


Resident Evil Steven

by Dark_Mage_of_Ylisse



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Human, Blood, Bugs & Insects, Campy, Cannibalism, Creepy, Dismemberment, Domestic Fluff, Don't worry he gets better, Explosions, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gore, Horror, Humor, Kinda, Louisiana, Sad, Trans Female Character, Violence, Weapons, gross food, not any cool big ones though, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-06-18 22:59:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 38,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15496647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Mage_of_Ylisse/pseuds/Dark_Mage_of_Ylisse
Summary: Connie- Message to Steven. August"Hi Baby! I just wanted to say a quick 'Hello', and 'I love you'.""Oh! Good news, I'm gonna be coming home soon so, yay! I cannot WAIT to be done with this babysitting job... And be home with my loving husband.""Hey uh, I have to get back to work. I love you so much Steven, I miss you! Bye baby!"connie- message to steven- october"Steven... You were right. I did lie to you. I shouldn't have, but-""All I can say is that, if you get this...""Stay. Away."





	1. Bedroom

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everybody! Welcome to the AU I'll be working on for quite a while. I hit a massive burst of inspiration, and I want to do this. This first chapter takes place roughly 3 months before the main events of the story, with the rest of it being either Steven's Story, or the Lazuli Family Story.

“Ugh… Where am I?” Lars asked himself as his vision came into focus. The last thing he remembered was going into some (apparently) haunted house with…

 

Oh. Right. His friends, the ones who had taken him with them into this disgustingly hot bayou. They had gone into a house together to investigate it, and only Lars himself had come out alive.

 

No, no, it was all coming back to him now. That sick, twisted family was here, in a much larger house. The main mother, some blue haired woman, had locked Lars up in the basement for hours, with almost nothing to defend himself. He’d survived, but just barely. The redhead had managed to escape the basement, the laughter of the cruel woman echoing behind him as he crept through the halls (and ignoring the creepy old lady in a wheelchair that seemed to get up staircases somehow) until…. Nope, it was fuzzy after that.

 

He looked around the room, but it was too dark to see almost anything. He was sitting on something soft, a bed. With a table in front of him. That wasn’t too odd, but the bad part? His hand was fastened down to the table with some sort of leathery cuff. Lars tried to wiggle free, but to no avail.

 

Then, Lars jumped a bit when the bedroom door opened. Standing there with her lantern in one hand and a tray in the other, was a woman. “Wakey wakey sleepyhead!” She chirped, and from a distance she might have been considered cute, or pretty. She looked like somewhat of a normal housewife from far away. This was Peridot, the wife of Lapis Lazuli. She could act sweet as a peach only to fly into a screaming rage without any sort of warning. “Did you sleep well, sweetie?”

 

“What are you doing?” Lars mumbled, but she seemed to ignore him as she walked closer. The closer she got, the better he could see her horrible twisted smile, too wide for her small face. Her hair was a ragged, filthy mess that looked like it hadn’t seen a proper brush in years. She may have been a lovely, sweet little woman once upon a time, but that was gone now.

 

“My daughter really likes you y'know, she wants you to be her new big brother!” Peridot told him with a look of glee as she hung the lantern on the wall beside his bed. “Oh, don’t get too excited now though, no celebratin' just yet. If you want to be part of this family, you have to eat like a member of the family.”

 

She walked around to the other side of the bed, and placed the tray down in front of him. On it was a spoon, and a plate filled with…. Food? It didn’t look like food, and certainly didn’t smell like it either. The smell made Lars want to gag. “Mmm, that smells good, doesn’t it? If you eat all of this, you can be one of us. Then, I’ll take your restraint off, and you can go run around and play. But you have to eat all of it.”

 

She leaned in, and the redhead could clearly see her cold green eyes, her sharp teeth that gleamed in the eerie yellow-green light of the lantern. Her smile was too big, her face too close. He could smell the blonde, she reeked of death and rotting flesh.

 

“Um, y-yeah, smells delicious.” He squeaked, and almost like magic, Peridot backed off.

 

She looked almost flattered, her eyes lighting up. “Oh my, thank you. I’ll be back in a little while to check up on you.” She said happily, and walked out towards the door.

 

Lars looked up from his plate at her. “Is uh… There anything else to eat?”

 

Peridot went rigid. She turned slowly back to him with a piercing glare. “You don’t NEED nothin' else, now eat you FUCKING DINNER!” She snarled, and slammed the door as she stomped out.

 

No way in hell was he eating that. Lars pulled harder on his restraint, tugging at it with his free hand until it popped off. He grabbed the spoon off the table, and went to work.

 

There had to be a way out of here. He could feel it. That nasty woman wouldn’t be back for a while, so he had time before she’d come back in. He just… Hoped she wouldn’t be too upset when she got back.

 

He went towards a dresser and pulled open a drawer, but it proved almost useless, only giving him a little note about some clocks. The other one though was shut tight. After pulling a tiny lighter out of a little vase-like object, he yanked open the drawer. Nothing in it, of course. Just his luck.

 

Oh, and now it wouldn’t close. Perfect. This night was going so well, wasn’t it?

 

Lars carefully made his way over to the large grandfather clock, but… It wouldn’t open. Seemed like it was locked, oh well, he’d have to find a way to open it, maybe there was something inside. He looked around at the other side of the bed, where a small clock sat on top of a bedside table. The moment the young man’s fingertips brushed the clock, the minute hand fell off. He picked it up, and grinned.

 

He was always known as a clever boy, something he would always take pride in. Lars made his way back over through the darkness over to the clock, and pushed the hand-turned-lockpick into it. He heard a click before the clock opened up. However, Lars didn’t have time to celebrate his little victory, as the large grandfather clock began to do what they were best known for.

 

It began to chime. _Loudly._

 

“What’s all that noise?” He heard Peridot squawk from downstairs, and his heart jumped into his throat. He shut the clock door again, and raced over to the drawers. He shut the one with the note inside, but couldn’t seem to get the other one closed.

 

It was no use, he was running out of time, she would be here any second now. The young man prayed she wouldn’t notice the drawer sticking out, or that if she did, he would be able to think of a good enough lie to tell her. Lars almost jumped back into the bed, and recuffed himself down, acting as if he had been there the whole time.

 

Peridot entered the room, her eyes narrowed as she gazed around. “Hm. Hold on… Somethin' isn’t right….” She whispered, and tensed up when she caught a glimpse of the wide open drawer. “Oh that drawer didn’t just open itself!” She roared, and marched over to him, slamming her hands down onto the bed. “You were out of bed, weren’t you, you little shit?!”

 

Lars shook his head rapidly, “N-no, i-it wasn’t me! I-it was Amethyst!” He stammered, sweating as she snarled in his face.

 

Peridot took a step back with an angry scowl. Lars knew a little about this family. Amethyst had been Peridot’s first born child. Amethyst was a troublemaker, the black sheep of the family.

 

“Amethyst? Oh, Amethyst, I thought I told her she wasn’t allowed to have you yet.“ The blonde woman huffed, and walked out only to come back a few seconds later with another tray. This one had a fork on it, along with a large pot and a little burner. "I figured you haven’t eaten yet, so I brought you something else.” She said as she exchanged the “meals”.

 

After a few moments of watching him, Peridot walked out of the room, and once again, Lars was left alone.

 

He wouldn’t be going near that damned drawer again. That woman may have been tiny but she was ferocious. He needed to be more careful about not messing with anything in the room.

 

Lars went back over to the clock and pulled it open, looking at a painting hidden inside. A man being burned… Lovely. Glad the family had good taste in art. He went over to where a small circular painting was hanging on the wall. His eyes lit up with hope as he gazed at the wall. There were pale silhouettes on the wall that matched the shape of the paintings. He moved the small one over, and hung the larger one onto the wall.

 

There was a third one, and after taking another glance around he saw it stashed away in the corner. Lars gently lifted it up, seeing that it was quite delicate looking and large, before he shuddered. Hidden behind it were large brown spiders as big as his palm, just sitting there, waiting. He placed the painting onto the wall in it’s correct silhouette, and before him, on the long table, a book opened. He could hardly see, it was time to grab Peridot’s lantern.

 

He stared at the hook that held it in place, fastened to the wall by a cork. He had the feeling he’d need that…. Lars looked back over towards the bugs with a grimace. They were all over two bottles of wine, one of which had a corkscrew attached to it. There was no way he would be touching those bugs, he’d rather just burn them away. The lighter he’d grabbed was far too small…. But the little burner that Peridot had put onto the tray wasn’t. He had a burner, and a lighter, and after another look-around, he’d found some fuel.

 

He placed the solid fuel inside the burner and watched in amazement as the spiders were all burnt into crisps. However, amazement quickly turned to horror when a small bottle of wine fell from its place, shattering onto the floor.

 

“What the HELL is all that noise?!” Peridot screamed. Lars’ heart raced, he quickly brushed the glass into the floorboards, thankful there was almost no wine in the bottle, before putting the burner back onto the tray. He could hear Peridot coming down the hall towards him. He swiftly put her lantern back onto its hook, put the paintings back where they’d been, closed up everything, and put himself back into the bed.

 

She burst in with a angry growl. Peridot was very clearly in a bad mood. She looked around the room. “Hold on just a minute…” Said the blonde, searching through the room for any evidence that Lars might have been out of bed. “Hmph, guess I’m imagining things.”

 

He watched her in terror as she came up to his bed, giving an angry little huff as she pulled the lid off her food that she had given him earlier. “What did you do? You were supposed to eat your food! You’re supposed to do what I tell you!” She hissed, before calming herself down a bit. “But, that’s okay. I put something extra special in it just for you though, y'know? Can you guess what it is?”

 

Lars watched and tried not to puke as roaches crawled out of the pot of reeking slop. “B… Bugs?”

 

Peridot scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “Bugs? Bugs?! Do you really think I’d kill my babies, chop them up and put them in a stew to fucking feed YOU?” She asked with a scathing anger.

 

“Uh, wine! Yeah, wine.” It was a fair guess. A restaurant he'd been to before used wine, and there were bottles of it on the wall...

 

At that, Peridot had rolled her eyes. “Wine, yeah, right. Why in hell would I put wine in there? It’s bad enough that Lapis gets drunk every night, I don’t need my guests getting all liquored up with her.”

 

Lars was playing dumb with her now, he put his palm to his forehead, “Oh! Then it MUST be herbs, right?!” There was an herb garden near the house, and now he could remember seeing a few herbs in the kitchen, that had to be it.

 

Peridot relaxed much more now, and smiled again. “Herbs, yes. I grow them right outside in the garden, so you know they’re nice and fresh!”

 

She walked out again, and Lars breathed a sigh of relief. He’d eased her temper, for now. Unlatching himself, he went over to the door that was connected to the room. There had been symbols in the book, ones that matched up with the combination lock. He had unlocked the door quickly, grabbing a small knife that had been wedged between the dresser and the wall. Okay, now he had that opened up. Time to work in other things. The book on the table had a voodoo doll inside with a sewing needle in its chest. Lars took it out, and glanced over at the small clock. The note he’d read earlier said “the same time as all other clocks”, and the grandfather clock had read 9:30…

 

He stuck the sewing needle inside the little clock where the minute hand had been, being careful not to prick himself, and turned the needle very slowly until the clock read 9:30. Suddenly, the bed began to move, along with the clock loudly going off, its shrill ring echoing through the room.

 

“UGH! I’M NOT ENJOYING THIS!!” He heard Peridot, and boy howdy was she ever pissed off. Without thinking, Lars scrambled back into the bed as soon as it moved back, not bothering to move the paintings back into place, there was no time, he could hear her loud boots on the hardwood floor.

 

“Peridot, are you _really_ still fawning over that boy?” Another voice crowed, one that sent shivers down Lars’ spine. Lapis Lazuli. “Don’t we have _enough_ people in the house?”

 

“Quiet Lapis, you’ll scare him. And don’t you forget, out little girl wanted him here, so you can just hush!”

 

Oh boy.

 

“Oh really? Our little girl? Or my little _WIFE_?!” Lapis seethed, obviously in a foul mood from Lars escaping her earlier before she could finish with her sick games.

 

Peridot let out a howl of rage, and charged into the bedroom, a large cooking knife in her hand. “This is all YOUR fault, you god! Damn! Homewrecker!” She shrieked with tears in her eyes, and was about to sink her blade into Lars’ neck when Lapis came to the door, leaning on the door-frame as she watched.

 

“Peridot.” She said calmly, “Honeybee, I’m really sorry. I’ve been so frustrated lately, I didn’t mean that at all, you… Know I love you, right?”

 

The blonde woman suddenly sounded quiet, almost bashful as she nodded. “Yes, I do.”

 

Lapis gave an oddly sweet smile, “Oh Peri, come here honeybee. I’m so sorry, can you forgive me baby?”

 

Peridot walked over to her, taking her hand as she nodded. “Oh Lapis, yes. Yes I forgive you.”

 

 

The two left the room together, leaving the crying Lars in his bed.

 

He steeled his nerves best he could. He could access the other room, and there seemed to be a secret passage way out of here under the bed. All he needed was a way to unlock the passage, and he remembered seeing a key inside the other room.

 

Lars quickly went inside, looking around. He had cut some tape off of a box, along with a little hole inside it using his knife and placed the lantern inside. It cast a bright light towards a large painting of Medusa holding a snake. Some colors were oddly dark though… Lars held up his fork to the light, watching the shadow it cast. Eventually, it filled the shape of the snake’s head.

 

Grabbing the hook off the wall using the corkscrew to free it, he had managed to cast a large shadow onto the painting, recreating Medusa’s face. He looked down at the knife in his hands, and looked around the room. He’d been up for a while, Peridot would probably be back soon…. He looked into the corner of the room, glancing at a small bottle of… Weird black liquid. He dipped his knife into it before grabbing the key out of a cage that had opened thanks to the shadow puzzle.

 

“Lars?! Where the fuck are you?!” Peridot growled, her voice nearby. She must have gone into the room. For the first time in a while, Lars grinned, looking down at his knife, covered in the gross liquid.

 

“I’ve got a nice surprise for _you_ , you little _witch_.” He whispered to himself before he slammed open the door, letting Peridot pounce at him.

 

The blonde grabbed his arms, roaring and screeching as he tried his best to fight her off. The two struggled before Lars freed his arm from her claws and sliced at her.

 

Peridot recoiled with a scream of agony as the knife slashed open her forehead. She fell to the ground, writhing in pain. “AGHHH!! WHY?! That HURT me you son of a bitch!” She howled as Lars opened up the passage way, unlocking it with the key and quickly slipping down into the darkness.

 

As he fled, he heard Peridot scream. “OWW! You bastard! I’m gonna make you eat this FUCKING KNIFE!”


	2. Welcome To The Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being missing for 3 years and assumed dead, Connie sends Steven a message asking for him to come down to Louisiana to find her.   
> Steven sits down for a family dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the start of Steven's Story. I'm changing the beginning since a lot of it takes a while, but don't worry. It's nothing too big.

Okay, this place was nuts. He had to be dreaming. If so, he wanted to wake up.

 

Steven took a deep breath as he wandered through the halls of what he thought had been an abandon house, his flashlight clutched tightly in his hand.

 

It seemed only moments ago that he had finally, after 3 years of searching, found his beloved wife. Connie had left for a strange job, and never come home. She had sent him an email recently though, only a few simple sentences but it was all he needed.

 

_“Dulvey Louisiana, Lazuli residence. I’m here. Come get me.”_

 

And so, Steven had come in, ready to hunt down his wife and finally bring her home. He’d missed her so much, praying every night that somehow he’d find her, and now he had.

 

But… Something was wrong. Connie wasn’t quite herself anymore. When he’d first seen her, she had panicked, saying that someone was coming after her. She was shaking, and could hardly get a sentence out as she walked with him through the house. Then, she’d disappeared, someone had taken her. Steven had heard her screams of fear as she had been taken away from him, he’d only turned his back for a moment…

 

…

 

Something was nearby. He could hear it breathing. He tries to make his way down the stairs, only for a horrifyingly familiar figure to crawl up towards him.

 

It was his wife, her face twisted with rage and hatred as she snarled at him. “Leave, me, ALONE!” Connie snarled as she grabbed Steven by his shirt and threw him down the hall. He coughed as his back slammed against the wall, knocking the wind out of him.

 

The curly haired man scrambled to his feet in an effort to escape, he’d never seen his wife, let alone any human being that looked the way she did now. Her warm eyes had turned cold and almost black, and there seemed to be faint grey veins all over her skin.

 

He had been too slow, as Connie had ran over to him at a terrifying speed, grabbed him once again, and threw him through a thin wall. He laid on the floor, dazed out of his mind. Connie walked off down the hall a little and Steven stood up, noticing a hatchet on the ground…

 

Faint laughter could be heard now, she was coming back, and quickly. Steven picked up the hatchet, he would never kill her, but he certainly wouldn’t let her kill him. He’d defend himself, that was all.

 

His eyes widened and his heart almost stopped at the sight of his wife standing near the hole in the wall, a large kitchen knife in her hand. “Leave me!” She growled, before charging at him. Connie swung at him, and Steven winced as he held up his arm, the blade scratching it. He swung the blunt part of his hatchet at her shoulder, tying to fend her off without hurting her very much.

 

Connie either didn’t feel it, didn’t notice, or didn’t care at all. She was dead-set on ending him right then and there. She had backed Steven out into the hallway, the two struggling to fight each. Steven’s arms were now covered in cuts and scratches from the knife his lover held. Even the younger of the two had her own injuries now.

 

He couldn’t hold her off for much longer, she was so much stronger than him now. Connie have a harsh laugh as she knocked Steven back down towards the wall, he had to do something he had to think fast before she-

 

Steven hadn’t been thinking, he’d forgotten about his hatchet. In his haste to get away from Connie he had swung the blade right down onto her collarbone. The dark skinned woman collapsed onto the ground, and lay still.

Tears running down his face, Steven got up and made a run for the door, jiggling the handle as he began to sob mournfully for his wife. Three years of wanting her back, only for everything to end so suddenly like this…

 

He made his way back to her body, and his tear-filled eyes widened at the sight. There on the ground was a puddle of blood, and the hatchet, but Connie was gone. He picked it back up, and, shaking as he moved, walked through the halls. The tall man let out choked sobs when he saw bloody handprints on the walls. She was still alive, maybe.

 

He jumped when he saw her, a hand behind her back as she grabbed his wrist. His heart raced and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Now now Steven, I know you didn’t really mean to hurt me…” Said Connie sweetly, she smiled at him, there was blood on her but it seemed like her wound had closed up. Her eyes became dark and hateful once again. “But you shouldn’t have done that! It fucking hurts!”

 

Connie seethed with rage as she pinned Steven against the wall, and he cried out in pain as she held our the screwdriver she’d been hiding and pinned him to the wall through his hand before walking away. Steven cried and whimpered as he struggled to free himself, blood dribbling down his arm from the hole in his palm. He began panicking as he heard the revving up engine of a chainsaw.

 

The buffish man managed to free himself, but it was too late. His wife charged down the hall, and brought her weapon down onto Steven’s arm. He screamed in pain as the blade cut through, his arm now bleeding from a stump…

 

Connie’s eyes went wide with shock as she took a step back, tears spilling over her cheeks as she dropped the now off weapon. “No, no this isn’t… Steven….” She whispered, staring at his bleeding arm. “I can feel her, _clawing_ her way back into me… Help…”

 

She couldn’t finish her sentence, she had already gone limp and collapsed onto the floor. Steven took a step back, and bumped into something behind him.

 

Suddenly, he was grabbed and turned around. He was staring right into the burning icy blue eyes of a woman with short navy blue hair, tan skin, and a cold, sadistic grin. “Welcome to the Family, son.” She said with a smirk, before slamming her fist into the side of Steven’s head, sending him sprawling on the floor.

 

The last thing he saw was her foot slam down towards his face, and the world went black.

 

It was raining outside, he could feel the cold water getting through his shirt, the wet gravel underneath him as he was dragged down the path towards a MUCH larger house. His eyes opened just a little as he looked up at the tall woman who’d taken him. She was dragging Steven by his ankle, with Connie resting over her shoulder.

 

He closed his eyes again, and the world went dark once more.

 

“Come on, don’t die on us now… You have a lot of work to do…” A soft voice came through the darkness, and Steven’s eyes opened just a bit. A woman was standing in front of him, putting some odd watch around his wrist where she was… Stapling his hand back onto his arm? What in the hell? His head ached, and he once again blacked out.

 

Now he was finally coming to, and… He wished he hadn’t. The sight in front of him was horrifying. He was at a dinner table surrounded by people. The table was covered in plates of meat that looked a little too much like something that human beings shouldn’t be eating…

 

And the people around him certainly didn’t help. To his one side, a catatonic old woman who say in her wheelchair staring lifelessly at him, next to her was a squirrelly-eyed girl whose eyes seemed to almost glow as she threw bits of the meat at Steven. Then there was the blue haired woman from before who now sat across from him, happily scarfing down her food and taking gulps from a bottle of beer. Next to her was a scrawny looking blonde lady whose hair was a ragged mess, she scratched at her forehead, which had an ugly black scar.

 

The main woman across from him looked away from her beer and grinned. “Well well well, looks who’s up.”

 

Steven looked around the room, her heart racing as he came to the realization he couldn’t move, they’d tied him down to the chair.

 

He looked over at the blonde woman, who grabbed a piece of the disgusting meat and quickly snapped it up before glancing over to him. “Eat it, it’s good!”

 

“Dumb son of a bitch wouldn’t know good if it hit em!” A laugh came from the other side of the table, and Steven braced for impact as a chubby purple haired woman threw her plate at him, the food hitting his chest and the plate itself smacking his shoulder.

 

The blonde woman huffed. “Amethyst!” She sounded as if she were scolding a small child, was she this woman’s mother?

 

The blue haired girl didn’t seem to like Amethyst’s joke. She slammed the short woman’s hand onto the table, “I’m so sick of your fucking attitude.” She hissed as she dug her knife into Amethyst’s arm.

 

“Ah! God damn it, you old bat, not _again_!” Amethyst protested, wiggling around until the taller girl let her be free, her arm now a stump like Steven’s had been just a few hours ago.

 

The blue haired woman for up from her spot, and walked over to Steven. “Now, this boy’s gotta eat. He needs his supper, come on now son…” She spoke so gently as she put a piece of meat onto a fork and held it up, the second it touched Steven’s lips he began to splutter and gag, wanting to puke.

 

The tiny woman hadn’t liked that one bit. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit! He’s not eating it Lapis, he’s not eating!” She shrieked as she watched the two, her eyes wide with hurt and anger.

 

“Shut up, Peridot!” Lapis roared. The blonde stood up and began to yell even more, her shrill voice was piercing.

 

“I made that for HIM!” Peridot snapped, stomping her foot down on the floor.

 

Lapis slammed her fist down on the table and shoved Peridot’s chair onto the floor, clearly frustrated. “Peri just get out of here!” Lapis barked, glaring at Steven as she pointed towards the large set of doors on the other side of the room.

 

“You’re a son of a bitch!” Peridot’s boots made heavy thumping sounds on the floor as she stomped out of the room through large doors leading into a hallway, ranting loudly to herself. “Oh, won’t eat his god damn supper I made…”

 

Lapis turned Steven’s head to face her as she held up the piece of meat to his eyes. “Now you listen here boy, this was supposed to be a very special feast. Let me show you what we do with those who refuse to eat…”

 

Lapis held up a large knife, and had pressed the tip of the blade to Steven’s cheek, she doorbell rang. She set the knife down, and Amethyst groaned.

 

The short girl stood up, her voice filled with annoyance. She’d clearly been enjoying this. “Ugh, must be that nosy-ass cop again.” She huffed.

 

“Good for nothing pig.” Lapis snarled, and she watched as Amethyst walked out, the purple haired woman cradling her wrist. Lapis walked over to the doors Peridot had left through, and turned to look back over at Steven with a fierce glare.

 

“I’ll be back for YOU later.”


	3. What Happened After Lapis Walked Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis goes to talk with her wife, and swears her hatred for Steven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, some chapters are short.

Lapis huffed as she wandered down the hall, she’d screwed up big time. Her poor wife was upset, and what had she done? Yelled at her, and told her to go away. It was true that it was nearly impossible to focus when Peridot was screaming her little head off, but she definitely could have been more polite about that. She felt like a jerk…

 

She couldn’t wait to get her hands around that new boy’s neck for this, disrespecting her wife like that. Saying he didn’t fully enjoy her cooking? That was one thing, but spitting it out? Oh no no, that was unforgivable.

 

“Peri?” Lapis called, looking through the dimly lit house. The floorboards creaked a bit as she walked. The blue haired woman wandered into the main hall, and over to the 'front' door, it was technically the back door, but they hardly used the front one except to bring people in. There was a magnificent metal crest on it, a three-headed lion. The heads could actually come off of the door, and if even one of them was gone, the door wouldn’t open. She and Amethyst had made the door that way after they had received Her Gift. Lapis smirked to herself, there was no way in hell this Steven fellow was getting out of here. Peridot would soon go into their old house to be with her bugs, and Amethyst would go off into that odd 'house' she had made from the barn to do god knows what.

 

Then, Lapis would take the lion heads, and hide them.

 

None of that now though, she needed to find her lover. “Peridot, honey, where did you go?” She asked, and her heart sank when she walked down the hall towards the stairs down to the garage. The door was open, and she could hear loud sniffling from inside.

 

Lapis walked in, and watched. Peridot, her Peridot, was curled up in the corner of the room near Steven’s car. They’d stolen it and kept it there, in case they needed it for something. “Peri, sweetheart-”

 

“Go away!” Peridot hissed, “I don’t wanna talk to you…”

 

Lapis walked over to her, and got down onto her knees. “Honeybee, I didn’t mean to shout at you, I just needed to focus. I won’t do it anymore, and-”

 

Peridot looked up at her, her beautiful green eyes spilling large tears down her cheeks. “I don’t care that you yelled, I know I make it hard to focus, I know I yell a lot! It’s just…” She trailed off, looking back down at her knees.

 

Lapis gently took her hands, holding them and rubbing her thumbs along her wife’s knuckles. “What’s the matter darling? What is it?”

 

“Nobody ever wants to eat my cooking…” Peridot murmured, and sniffled again. The blue haired woman smiled softly and took Peridot into her arms.

 

She gave the blonde a kiss on her forehead. “Well, I for one love your food. Maybe they just don’t appreciate it enough. I mean, these little shits are just a bunch of city people.”

 

The blonde gave a chuckle and wiped her nose. “Yeah, I guess… Probably used to all that fancy stuff, right?”

 

“Exactly! See baby? You got yourself all worked up for nothing, these losers don’t know what a great cook you are, they don’t matter. And for what it’s worth, I’d take your food over some fancy-ass restaurant any day.”

 

Peridot gave a purr, “Oh Lapis, you always make me feel better, you’re a charmer.” She said with a soft grin as she kissed the taller woman on the cheek.

 

Lapis would never admit that it made her blush as she gazed at her little wife. “Even after all these years?”

 

“Forever.” Peridot told her and got up from the floor. “Now come on, let’s close up this place, I’ll go over and check up on Connie. You go get that boy.”

 

Lapis bent down, pressing her lips against Peridot’s in a chaste kiss before heading back out, grabbing a sharpened shovel on the way out, taping up the panel that allowed people into the garage after Peridot had left. She looked at her shovel, and smiled.

 

You could disrespect her, she didn’t care. But disrespect her family? No. No way.

 

There was no way in hell that this boy would make it out in one piece, she was sure of it.


	4. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, we venture back to Steven's story.  
> Lapis is a scary lady.

Steven wiggled in his chair, groaning as he squirmed around and tried to get free. He glanced over at he old woman, who just… Looked at him. She seemed like she wasn’t really aware of the world around her. Was she Lapis or Peridot’s mother?

 

Steven’s thoughts were interrupted when his chair suddenly toppled over, sending him crashing into the floor. The cuff keeping him down to the chair snapped off, and he made a break for it.

 

The curly haired man ran into another room, with an old TV and a large coffee table. “Come on, there has to be something….” He said to himself as he looked through things. The drawers held usually nothing but the occasional bit of dust, and the coffee table had nothing but newspapers on it, all of which read similar headlines.

 

_“Over 10 people missing in 3 years”_

 

_“Ship crashes into bayou, crew found dead”_

 

_“Haunted swamp? Locals seem to think so!”_

 

He shook his head, this was so messed up… What the heck was going on here, what was on his wrist, and why was his hand still working?! It had been cut off! Last he checked he wasn’t some kind of super-human! Limbs didn’t just magically heal just because they were stapled back on!

 

Maybe this was all a bad dream, and he’d wake up back in his bed, Connie having never left at all. She’d be in his arms, giggling at his wild bed-head and kissing his cheek.

 

He looked down in low shelves of things. They were pretty barren though, a few candles, some candy wrappers, a few empty beer bottles, and that was it. How did these people live like this? There was gross black mold-ish looking stuff that seemed to cover some things, like most of the newspapers or the TV. This place was so gross, he wanted to shower. If he made it out, he was burning his clothes.

 

He went back into the room he’d been in, and something caught the tall man’s attention. The kitchen was connected to the dining room, it was small, but maybe if he looked around… Steven grinned as he picked up a soft green herb from the counter, a note under it saying “Give to Amethyst if she gets hurt”. So, could this herb help people who were injured? Either way, Steven took it and shoved it into his pants pocket.

 

Steven crept out into the hallway, looking around nervously. There were small tables, but the drawers were locked. His eyes widened seeing some of the pictures placed there. The first was of Lapis and Peridot standing side by side, smiling happily. They looked normal. Another was of the other girl, Amethyst. She had a mischievous smirk in the picture as she held up an odd looking little robot. Another was of a girl, but her face had been scribbled out, it was impossible to make out what she really looked like.

 

The last one was just a picture of a little girl with a happy smile, no frame at all. On the back, the photo read “Eveline, 2016.” Did Peridot and Lapis have another little girl running around?

 

A loud thump sounded from down the hall, and Steven began to run away, taking the picture with him. He shoved it into the small backpack he had with him that was almost flat to his back. He turned the corner, and he swore his heart stopped.

 

Standing there with a shovel in her hands, her back turned to him, was Lapis.

 

Quietly, Steven slipped away from her. He tiptoed back down the hall and over to a doorway just as she turned around. He prayed that she hadn't seen him. A small set of stairs led down to a garage, but the door inside was closed, the button to open it was behind a panel that had been covered up in bright red tape that he couldn’t pull off. Steven’s heart thumped wildly in his chest as he crept down the hall, back into the kitchen.

 

He could hear footsteps, Lapis was getting closer. Steven ducked behind a large trashcan and practically held his breath as Lapis walked back into he dining room. He had to force himself not to gasp when he heard her shout. “Come on out, you spineless prick, let’s see how manly you are!” Lapis snarled. "Thought you could just sneak away before dinner was done?!"

 

Steven shivered, looking around him desperately for something, maybe Peridot had left a knife out, or a fork, he’d even take a damn spoon at this rate. He picked up a small lock-pick off the floor that had been hidden almost behind the kitchen counter, and took off in a mad sprint. He couldn’t take it anymore, he had to put distance between himself and the blue haired girl.

 

He could hear her shouting, enraged that he dared run away from her. The chubby man fled down the hallways, Lapis following behind. Steven had never been considered a clumsy guy, but he had his moments. He tripped over a loose floorboard, screaming as Lapis’ shovel came down and left a nasty cut on his shoulder. “God dammit! Hold still already!” The older woman hissed and took another swing, missing Steven’s leg just _barely_ as he scrambled away from her.

 

Eventually he managed to get some distance away from Lapis, and he ducked into the area that led to the garage, hiding behind the small wall there. Lapis walked by, tapping her shovel against the ground and muttering curse words under her breath. She was furious, that much was obvious.

 

After he footsteps had fully faded away, Steven breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, that was way too close. I gotta just… Avoid her. Forever. In her own house.” He groaned quietly, he was screwed.

 

This lock-pick, it had to be good for something, but what… Careful as a kitten, Steven snuck back into the hall, shaking as he heard loud banging sounds. “Steven! Steeeveeen!” He heard Lapis calling out, “What’s the matter? Big brave boy got himself a little boo-boo? You COWARD!”

 

Steven let out a terrified yelp as Lapis crashed through one of the thin walls, grinning like the madwoman she was. “Leavin' so soon?! I don’t THINK SO!” She swung her shovel down, Steven just managing to dodge it by a few inches. He shoved Lapis away from him using every ounce of strength he had as he moved around her into the room she had come out of. There, on the floor, was a few rotted floorboards. There must have been a passage here, and while it was locked, he quickly unlocked using the lock-pick, frowning as it snapped into pieces after it was used, must have been fragile. Lapis had smacked her head off a wall and fallen down, but she was getting up now, and she was _seething_.

 

Right as Lapis came in and swung her shovel around again, Steven ducked down into the tunnel, locking it behind him. He scurried down the dark tunnel.

 

Turning on his flashlight and looking around, he could see a few things scattered around. Steven began to feel a bit of hope, maybe there was a way out after all. He collected another herb, along with a small bag of something simply labelled as “chem fluid”. There was a tiny box of bullets here fit for a handgun. Only 5, but they might be useful.

 

At the end of the tunnel was another trap door, he took it and and found himself in what looked like a... Meat locker? Didn't matter. The place had been all but emptied out though, it wasn’t even cold anymore. There were just a few tables and a chair, something off in the corner too. A single phone sat on a table, an old dial-up style phone, which began to ring.

 

Cautiously, Steven picked up the phone. “Hello?”

 

“Hey.” The soft voice from before, the one who had 'fixed' his arm, answered. “Glad you’re still alive. I wanna help you, I want to help you get away from here-”

 

Steven’s patience had run a little thin. “What in the hell? Who are you?”

 

“I know this is a lot, but just trust in me, okay? My name’s Pearl. Please, if you want to get out of here, and save your wife, you’ve gotta do exactly as I say. That watch on your wrist will monitor your vitals, along with some other stuff. It's called a codex... Don't lose it. I’ll keep calling you whenever I can just… Stay safe. Don’t get caught.” She sounded oddly calm for someone who supposed lived with these psychopaths, but… Who else did Steven have to trust right now?

 

“O… Okay.”

 

Pearl sounded satisfied with that answer. “Good. By the way, yeah, I fixed your arm up. Don’t worry about it anymore, you have bigger problems now.” And with that, she hung up.

 

Steven put the phone down, and sighed. This was going to be a long night….


	5. Love at First Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Peridot and Lapis met.

“Come on jerk! Give it back!” A high pitched voice squawked from down the hall as Lapis put her books into her locker. “I need that!"

 

"Come get it, pipsqueak. C'mon, if you’re so tough, get your stupid little bag back.”

 

The brown haired teen looked over to see where the all the noise was coming from. Some jock type guy was holding a small bag over a tiny blonde girl’s head, taunting her and snickering at her angry face.

 

He sneered at her, “What’s the matter? Gonna cry? What’ll you do if I just keep this?” The large teen began to laugh at the girl’s terrified face, laughing harder in seeing that she was actually tearing up.

 

“P-please, please, I need it…” The blonde teen whimpered. “It's really special to me, it was my dad’s.”

 

There were no other students around who could help the tiny girl, who began to cry and futilely reach for her bag, which had to be at least over 2 feet above her head. Lapis growled, she hated bullies. She marched over to the large teen, he was bigger than her, but she didn’t care, she knew how to take down someone twice her size from wrestling with her sister and cousins. “Hey, jackass.” Lapis hissed, forcefully turning the boy’s face before she gave him a hard punch in the jaw.

 

The boy went down, and Lapis gave him a hard kick in the stomach. “Don’t take things that aren’t yours, dickhead.” She snapped. The brunette grabbed the small green bag out of his hands, and handed it to the blonde girl. “Here you…”

 

She trailed off and her mouth hung open upon seeing the tiny teen up close. This was the prettiest girl she’d ever seen in her life! Her blonde hair was neat looking, soft and fluffy. She had lovely emerald green eyes that sparkled with gratitude, and her cheeks were rosy as she gazed up towards Lapis. “Thank you.” Said the small girl, who smiled at her. “My name is Peridot, what’s yours?”

 

“L…” She could hardly get a word out, this girl had her smitten from the second their eyes met.

 

“L?” Peridot said with a giggle, “Never heard a name like that before! Do you have siblings like M, N, O, and P?” She said, laughing all the way through her words. “Come on, you don’t have to be shy.”

 

“L-lapis. My name’s Lapis.” The brown haired girl said with all the grace of a toddler. “Are umm… Are you okay?”

 

Peridot had nodded, “I am now, thank you Lapis.” She said with a cheerful grin. “Wanna go get milkshakes? My treat.”

 

Oh, thank god, a question she didn’t have to open her mouth (and subsequently out her foot into) to answer. This girl made her into a damn idiot, stuttering and acting all sweet, holding doors for her and wanting to carry her books… Peridot made her want to be sweet.

 

The two had ditched school, sitting in an almost empty milkshake cafe. They’d ordered, and were now sitting in the booth waiting and listening to the jukebox play songs. Peridot took out her bag and showed it to Lapis. Inside was a small green rock. “Peridot, that’s what this stone is. It’s where I got my name from so it's my lucky charm. The bag though is from my dad, he’s… No longer with us…”

 

Lapis patted her hand. “It’s okay, if anyone ever tries to take it from you, you call me, got it? I’ll give 'em a good beating.” She was getting better at being able to actually _speak_ to the beautiful girl.

 

A waitress set their milkshakes down, and Peridot squealed, making Lapis’ heart flutter at the sound of her adorable noises. “These are so good!” The blonde cheered, and began drinking hers, getting whipped cream on her nose and cheeks. Upon trying some, the tan skinned teen had to agree.

 

The two sat and talked, with Lapis getting more comfortable actually making more and more full sentences and not just mumbling out words. Eventually, the song on the jukebox changed to a much more upbeat one, and Peridot gasped. “Lapis, come on, dance with me!”

 

Lapis’ face flushed a deep reddish pink at the thought of dancing with the younger girl. “I uh, I don’t really know how-”

 

The little blonde giggled again, her cheeks turning that lovely rosy pink that made the older of the two melt inside. “That’s fine, neither do I.” She said with a large silly grin, and Lapis joined her out on the diner floor.

 

She goofed around with the younger girl, laughing and smiling and making jokes at each other. Eventually though, Peridot got closer, and the song changed to be slow. Lapis pulled Peridot in, keeping her hands respectfully on the smaller teen’s waist as Peridot gripped her shoulders. The two were slow dancing in the empty cafe now.

 

“We should come back here sometime.” Said Lapis breathlessly as she held Peridot close to her chest, her hear pounding, “What do you think?"

 

Peridot looked up, her face a pretty pinkish red color. "That sounds perfect.”


	6. Fighting Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gonna load Steven up with health and bullets. Y'all know what's coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a warning for some violence in here.

There were papers on one of the tables, and oh boy, the Lazulis shouldn’t have left them there. The black haired man smiled when he saw what he’d found.

 

The papers contained maps of the entire house, every room was labelled out, with some doors having little symbols next to them. A scorpion, a lizard, and a fox. Apparently, this room was actually a laundry room. Looking in the corner of the room he could see a washing machine and dryer, but… Why were there a few hooks? Did they have a laundry line for delicate clothes? There WAS a fan in here… The thought of these freaks hanging up delicate clothes actually made him start to snicker, it was funny to imagine them bickering over what would go up there.

 

Nearby was a large green box, he looked inside. There, resting on old clothes, was a box that read ‘From: Pearl, to help you’. That girl on the phone must have wanted to actually help him. Next to it was a small box of about 5 small bullets. He took everything he could, he had the sad feeling he’d really be needing to use these bullets…

 

Steven slipped out of the room, and out into a hallway. He felt a bit safer, but his arm was still aching… He looked into his pockets for anything he could use. He had the paper that he’d printed out that had Connie’s email (that she apparently _hadn’t_ sent to him?), Connie’s drivers license, which he’d found at the back of the guest house, a picture of the little girl, some chem fluid, and an herb.

 

On the ground was a small paper, the chubby man picked it up and turned it over. There was a drawing of a leaf, along with another drawing of a yellow bag, much like the little chem fluid bag.

 

“Hm…” Steven gave small hum, opened up the bag, poured it into an empty jam jar on a nearby table, and dropped the herb inside. He gave the jar a little shake, and watched as the clear liquid turned a pale green. “What in the...?” He looked back at the paper, in the corner was a small note.

 

‘ _heals all wounds, use all of it, use wisely’_

 

He lifted the jar up to his shoulder and tipped it onto it. The liquid was freezing, but it felt oddly good. Quickly, his cut stopped bleeding, and… Closed up.

 

Steven didn’t cuss much, but he couldn’t help himself now. “Okay, what the hell?” He asked, looking at the chem fluid bag. It was some sort of multi-use thing, for both first aid, and to cause materials to harden. He tossed the bag back into the room, and put the jar back onto the shelf.

 

Down the hall was another door, he opened it up and stepped inside, his eyes widening at the sight. It was a bathroom, but it looked horrible. A black mold-like substance was all over the walls, shards of a mirror were scattered on the floor, and the bathtub was filled with a disgusting mess of black sludge, there was something inside but no way was he touching it. A musty smell drifted through the air, a soft dripping sound came from a cracked shower-head. Steven looked through a cabinet, and found an old bar of soap, an antique coin, and a bottle labelled ‘first aid’. He’d take the coin and first aid, storing them in his pocket and bag, but… The soap would stay.

 

On his walk through the hall, he found a large door, the one that would lead to the main hall, on it was a large metal crest. It was a man riding a… Oh.

 

A large piece of the crest was missing, it looked almost like a bear. It looked like it could be snapped in and out of place, checking the map he could see that he would need a key to get into the main hall, maybe the missing piece was the key? He couldn’t access any part of the house without the key… Maybe they’d hid it in the garage.

 

A loud knock startled the young man, “Hello?” A voice called. “Anybody home?” When Steven glanced over he could see the light of a flashlight. A police officer was standing at one of the windows, which had no glass but was boarded up haphazardly.

 

He dashed over to a boarded up window, staring out at the man before him. “Please, you’ve gotta help me!” He said frantically. The man outside took a step back, clearly Steven appearing rather suddenly with wide frightened eyes had startled him a little.

 

The cop held up a hand, his eyebrows raised, “Woah, easy now buddy. Is this your property?”

 

Steven lifted an eyebrow. “What? N-no! No I don’t even live here!” He cried. “Please, officer-”

 

“ _Deputy_.”

 

“Alright, deputy, you have to help me, there’s crazy people here trying to fucking kill me!” He growled, not liking having to cuss like this, but he needed to get a good point across that he wasn’t joking around.

 

The man gave Steven an odd look, “Easy there buddy, you don’t exactly look like you’re playing with a full deck here either.” He said with narrowed eyes.

 

Steven’s jaw dropped a little bit, “Please, come on…” He whined desperately. The cop gave a long sigh and leaned a little closer to the window.

 

“Meet me in the garage, we’ll talk in there, okay?” He asked, and the black haired man nodded. As the deputy started to walk away, Steven called out again.

 

“Wait, uh, give me your gun!” He said, if he was going to have to fight Lapis, he wanted to be prepared, even if it came down to having to cause some real harm to the blue haired woman.

 

“Oh you must be crazy, I-”

 

“Do you want to save my life? Or see my face in the obituaries? You’d be my hero!” Steven tried to bargain with the cop, who went quiet for a long moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out-

 

“A pocket knife? Seriously?”

 

“Take it.” Said the deputy. “It’s the best you’re gonna get. I’ll see you in the garage.”

 

“Okay, thanks…” Steven murmured, holding the small knife close. Oh well, he might do some damage with this, or maybe brake open a few of those little boxes he’d been seeing that looked a bit fragile. If he could dodge her shovel, he might be able to give Lapis a good cut or two.

 

Steven headed down into the garage stairway, breaking open a box and taking the bullets out of the thin wooden boards that were left. He stored them in his pocket, and looked into the gift from Pearl. Inside were two first aid bottles, one of which had a pink plus sign on it with the words ‘extra strength’ underneath.

 

The chubby man looked at the bright red tape that covered the panel, before cutting it with his knife. Maybe it was a little more useful than he’d originally thought… He pressed the button, watched as the metal door that led into the garage opened, and went inside.

 

There, crouched down inspecting a puddle on the floor with the police car out front, was the deputy. Steven quickly put the knife away and headed up to him. “We need to get out of here, now!”

 

The officer stood up and looked at him, giving the young man a sharp glare. “No, you need to tell me what you’re doing out here alone in the middle of the night!”

 

Steven wanted to cry, he just wanted to go home. “Me? Well, w-well what about you?” He asked, this place clearly wasn’t safe at all!

 

“It’s my job.” Said the deputy. “Now, you’ve gotta do your job and tell me what’s going on. Answer me. _Properly_.”

 

“Please!” Steven begged, “You’re not gonna believe me if I tell you this stuff!” He shouted. His heart pounded in his chest as he watched the garage door begin to slowly close, they’d both be locked in the house.

 

“Try. And put the door back up, boy.” Said the officer, and Steven’s breath caught in his throat seeing Lapis sneaking up behind him. “Put that door-!”

 

It was too late, Lapis had already gotten too close, and the end of the shovel came up through the deputy’s body, straight through his heart. The shovel was pulled back through, and the officer collapsed onto the garage floor, already leaving a puddle of blood.

 

Lapis let out a triumphant roar as she beat his body with her shovel, eventually snapping the tool into pieces before kicking the poor officer’s body. She let out a huff of anger as she grabbed a large axe off a nearby rack of tools, “Fuck it. I’ll kill every one of you.”


	7. Garage Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby's first boss battle, warning for violence and blood.

Oh fuck, oh god, he was screwed, he was done for. Lapis was after him now, swinging her large axe and just narrowly missing, Steven ducked behind his car, which had been parked off to the side, but yelped when the horrible blue haired woman came around the other side with a vile smirk. “Come on Steven, scared? Gonna run like a chicken, city boy?”

 

Steven tried to get a bit closer, trying to hit Lapis with his knife, but he couldn’t get close without risk of getting hurt. He looked around for something, anything to help…

 

There, laying next to the body of the deputy, was a handgun. Steven quickly picked it up, wincing when he felt Lapis’ blade manage to scratch his back. “What is your problem, lady?!” He shouted, and said crazy woman began to laugh at him. The black haired man looked into the gun, it was fully loaded. Steven backed up and took aim at her.

 

“Ooohh, big man got himself a gun. What are you gonna do, shoot me? Go ahead, do it.” Lapis taunted with a smirk, still laughing at him as his hands shook. “I dare you.

 

He didn’t want to, but he pulled the trigger, he watched as the tan girl snickered when the bullet hit her shoulder. Lapis smiled at him.

 

She didn’t even flinch.

 

"You kill me, and I’ll come right back!” She crowed proudly, swinging her axe down and catching Steven’s wrist. Steven sprinted away from her, splashing some of the first aid juice onto himself as he took more shots at the blue haired girl. He only caught her a few times, mostly into her chest, she hardly seemed to notice other than occasionally wincing and taking a moment to stop. "I don't know WHAT she sees in you!"

 

Her pauses weren’t enough though, even after shots that should have killed her, the brutally strong woman kept going. Eventually, Steven pulled the trigger, but nothing came out. "Aww, poor Steven ran outta bullets?” She asked, before Steven quickly reloaded the gun with the bullets in his pocket. Lapis’ pale blue eyes widened for a moment and she gave a soft gasp before Steven backed up again, turning and running towards a small locker to get distance from her.

 

The door of the locker was just small chain link that could be seen through. He’d seen some of these around the house, but most had been empty or locked. Inside this one though, were his car keys.

 

Steven grabbed them as fast as he could, crying out as the older girl grabbed him by his shoulder and turned him around, “Come here, jackass.” She hissed, and Steven shot her directly into her collarbone out of fear. Lapis gave a gasp of pain and took as step back. Steven pushed last her and went to his car, Lapis once AGAIN on his heels after just a few moments of recovery.

 

The tall man got into the driver’s seat and had only managed to put his keys in when the tall woman yanked him out. “Like hell you are, boy. I’M driving!” She barked and threw him to the ground. Lapis grabbed onto the door and yanked it clean off the car before grabbing the roof and pulling it back as if it were nothing more than an orange peel.

 

What the fuck was this girl? How was she so strong? Why was Steven’s luck so terrible?

 

Lapis hopped into the car, howling with laughter. “Better run Steven! Or do you wanna be turned into a little pancake?!” Her voice roared through the garage, and Steven panicked.

 

The room was small, the older woman didn’t have much room, by clearly she didn’t care. “No, no!” Steven cried, that car was his only way out of here, and it would have been nice to try and fight back against the blue haired woman.

 

“Nice car, by the way! Hope you’ve got insurance!” She crowed as she slammed her foot on the gas, the car jolting forward and hitting Steven’s hip. He groaned in pain and limped away from the vile madwoman as the car crashed into the wall, there was a horrible metallic crunching sound that made his ears hurt.

 

On the other, slightly comical hand, Lapis seemed to be having the time of her life. The older woman laughed, hooting and hollering as she drove odd donuts in the garage in an attempt to flatten the young man. Steven was lucky though, and managed to avoid being hit. Most of the time anyway, he’d definitely have some nasty bruises by the end of this, maybe the liquid would help…

 

Lapis let out a sharp gasp as she sped by Steven, crushing the car hard into the wall and blocking off the exit. Tools fell over onto the floor and onto the car, the blue haired girl groaning softly as she stayed in the car for a few moments. Steven gave one more shot, hitting her in the back, and she gave a hiss of pain.

 

Seconds later, the car caught fire. Steven backed up in shock, watching Lapis exit the car, walk towards him a little, and collapse onto the ground. The sprinklers came in, dousing them in foul smelling water and putting out the fire. He gazed down at the blue haired girl’s body, and frowned, he still felt bad, even if she had hurt him quite a bit. Her clothes were still oddly intact, the suit she wore was relatively fine besides a few cut in it, almost like it was as hard to damage her clothes as it was to hurt her.

 

A ladder had fallen when she'd rammed the car into the wall for the final time, as Steven climbed up though, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

 

He was forcefully turned around to face a very angry woman, her face had black streaks on it, she’d been a bit burned by the small fire. “You paying attention, you little shit? You’re about to see something beautiful.” She growled, and grabbed a knife from her pocket before digging it into her stomach, letting her white blouse be stained red. She slashed herself up before collapsing back down onto the floor.

 

Steven stood there, shaking as he looked down at her. He scrambled up the ladder, and went back out into the hall. He crouched down against the wall, and began to cry.

 

Within the garage, what Steven had failed to notice, was Lapis’ smile as her body rested on the floor.

 

After a few long moments, her chest once again began to rise and fall.


	8. Connie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momma's not happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm sorry, the chapters got all fucked up from Ao3 glitching out on me.

He had seen something up there, back in the garage. Steven got up from his spot and hopped up onto a table before lifting himself back up onto the upper part of the room. After he had climbed up the ladder, Steven had moved a metal shelving unit out of the way, not even bothering to investigate what was there.

 

“The crest?” The tall man murmured as he picked up a small board with a metal bear statuette attached to it. “There’s gotta be a way to get this thing off here… Aha!” The black haired man grinned slightly when he looked at the back, there was an odd screw-looking thing screwed into it. Carefully, Steven twisted it to pull it out, the statuette falling right into his hand.

 

The somewhat buff man put the board and screw back on the shelf, and jumped back down into the hallway before looking around for a few things. Going back into the bathroom, he saw that the tub had a small chain attached to the side, the end going into the… Water… If one could even call it that.

 

He pulled the chain, and the bathtub drained out, revealing a small box with a bottle of first aid juice inside. Steven added it to his collection, and kept going until he got to the door to the main hall.

 

Steven knelt down and put the bear statuette into the door, falling back into his rear with a yelp when a loud click startled him. His eyebrows rose when he saw the metal crest turn upside down, the hunter in the picture’s spear now facing the other way with the other one doing the same.

 

Cautious, he pushed open the door and looked around. The young man was filled with an odd sense of nostalgia. He could almost see them here, Peridot and Lapis sitting together, watching over Amethyst, and maybe Pearl too if she was their child. That old woman, Grandma, probably wouldn’t be in her wheelchair, and the third child, Eveline, maybe she would be here too.

 

There was a tiny open room off to the side, a bust sat on a podium, a statue of a soldier. In his hands was a shotgun, which would probably be pretty useful, but he didn’t want to take it just yet, he would have to find another for it, and he got the feeling it wouldn’t be so easy to take just yet. This house was tricky, this family was strange, he wouldn’t put it above them to booby trap things.

 

The phone began to ring again, and Steven picked ran across the room to get it. “Hello?”

 

“My mum give you a hard time?” Pearl was speaking, she sounded almost amused.

 

“That’s your mother?!” Steven squawked, he had been just making a guess earlier, he didn’t think it was true! How could someone so nice be related to these freaks?!

 

“She was.”

 

The back haired man calmed himself down, remembering what had happened in the garage. “I… I’m sorry but, she’s… She’s gone.”

 

Pearl gave a soft, dry laugh. “You might actually be able to pull this off.”

 

Steven raised an eyebrow, “Pull what off?”

 

He could hear Pearl sigh, “There’s something I need you to do, but I can’t explain it right now.” She... ‘Explained’, “You may need some keys to do it, but you have to find a way out of the house.”

 

“Okay, I will.”

 

“I’ll be in touch.” Said Pearl, and she hung up the phone again.

 

Steven nodded to himself, he needed to find a way out… The young man walked over to the front door, which had another crest on it. This one was missing pieces of it as well, three lion heads. He glared at the door, “Fine. You jerks wanna play like this? Game on.”

 

His confidence was not to last however, for when he got up to the top of the staircase, he jumped a little. There, sitting at the end of the hall, all by herself, like some sort of twisted little miracle, was the grandmother. That wouldn’t have scared Steven so badly on it’s own, but…

 

There was no possible way she could get up the stairs.

 

Creeped out beyond belief, Steven gave her a small nervous wave before heading out the door that was next to her. He had two paths now, the left one being more inwards towards the house, towards rooms, and the other providing a bit of a view outside. He could hear muttering coming from outside. It was impossible to make out what was being said, but he definitely knew that voice.

 

Walking around outside with her lantern swinging and casting a sickly yellow-green light, was Peridot.

 

She was walking around outside of a trailer, ranting about something to herself. Steven shivered hearing the tiny woman’s angry voice, he had the feeling that even if she was small and frail looking, she could full well kick his ass if she wanted.

 

The chubby man looked down at his map, there seemed to be an entrance to a recreational room, which led over into what had been labelled as " _Grandma's room_ ". Ah, so that was where Grandma was supposed to be. Apparently. It... Didn't seem like it.

 

Steven kept walking, heading down the hallway before entering into into a well lit room. It had a pool table, and a mini bar that had apparently once held not alcohol, but baked goods instead if the homemade cookbook was anything to go by. They had once been a silly little family, sitting at their mock mini bar eating cookies and pie. Steven sighed softly, where did it all go so wrong?

 

There was a small TV on the bar counter, and a VHS tape resting beside it. The black haired man picked it up, and his eyes widened. On it’s one side was the name “Connie”.

 

_‘Steven, please watch this.’_

 

He put the tape into the TV, and the static screen flared to life.

 

~

 

Connie held up the small video camera, shaking as she walked down the path towards a large iron gate, a tiny flashlight was in her other hand. Her voice shook with sadness and terror as she looked into the camera.

 

“Steven, I know I can’t expect anything from you… Not after what happened, after… What I did. But you need to know, that wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. I-I… I don’t know what happened, but…” She swallowed, “There’s so much you need to know.”

 

“THERE you are!” A voice snapped from behind the young woman and she gasped, turning around. Standing nearby was Peridot, holding her lantern with an angry scowl on her face. “You gave us quite a scare, young lady!”

 

Connie turned the camera around to face ahead of her, and took off. She pushed open the large iron gate, making her way down an old wooden bridge towards an old house. The bridge had a roof over it, hanging from it were broken baby dolls, their limbs twisted and their plastic faces beaten in by something.

 

“I can’t let her catch me again…” The short woman murmured as she entered the old house. The one Peridot and Lapis had lived in before the making of their much grander one. It had been built right into the swamp, so much of it was on the water.

 

When she went into the house, Connie could see that one of the doors was open, a light shining inside the room. But when she went up to the door, it gently swung closed and locked, keeping the poor girl out. The dark skinned girl let out a soft groan of fear, and went the other way. Part of the floor in the main hall had a massive hole in it, looking like a rip through the floor as if a claw had swiped down the middle of it. There was no possible was across right now. There was a bridge, but it could only be raised from the other side. Why they had built a bridge instead of just fixing the hole was beyond her, maybe they just didn’t care too much.

 

“ _Over here, mommy_ …” A soft voice called to her from the other side. A little girl stood there, with hair the colour of a robin egg that fell over her eyes. Connie’s heart raced, Peridot would be here soon too. The brunette kept going, heading through another door and into another room. The place wasn’t too badly lit, there were candles placed frequently throughout the house.

 

The other room was filled with old furniture. She cringed at the sight of this place, it was all covered in horrible pale brown mass that looked like a bug nest or hive. It seemed to breathe and groan around her, she shivered.

 

Connie went through another door and had just rounded a corner when she heard Peridot’s voice again. “I am sick and tired over being sick and tired over your bullshit, girl.” She hissed.

 

It took everything the young woman had to not panic. “Gotta hide, gotta hide…” She whispered, her heart pounding as the door behind her wouldn’t budge. Connie ducked behind a large nearby crate and held her breath.

 

“Why are you putting me through this?” The blonde asked, her voice dripping with bitter anger as the light of her lantern fully lit up the hall, its soft eerie creaking being one of the few sounds Connie could hear. There was the lantern, Peridot’s footsteps, her voice, and the pounding of her own heart. “What have I done to deserve this except open my home, and feed you?”

 

The blonde girl kept walking slowly down the hall, Connie pressed herself up against the wall and crouched as low as she possibly could, her hands were shaking and her lip quivered. “I don’t understand you, at all.” Said Peridot, “This is a gift!”

 

Connie crept down the towards the door where the shorter woman had come out of and went inside. There was a folding door and a piano in front of her, she made her way around them and looked over to where a bright light was shining. A projector sat on a small podium, shining bright light onto a painting of a spider walking along its web. On front of the projector was an oddly shaped metal statuette.

 

The young woman had been about to grab it when she heard the door opening, Peridot’s voice hitting her ears again and causing her breath to catch in her throat. “This house? Oh girl, it’s seen more than you could ever imagine. And believe me, it knows.”

 

She quickly tiptoed out onto the balcony/porch that overlooked the bayou. Thinking on her feet, Connie quickly went behind the open door, she hid in the corner looking in through the boards that were on a window. “Do you not understand or do you just not care?”

 

Connie cupped her hands over her mouth as she hid among the crates and trashcans. She was shaking like a leaf as she peeked her head in and saw that Peridot was getting dangerously close to coming outside. If she found Connie now, the brunette was a goner. “I know you’re up to somethin', I KNOW you and Pearl are scheming, plotting… You think I don’t know what you wanna do with that boy Steven?”

 

“No…” Connie whispered, “No no, don’t come over here, please…” She held her breath once again when she heard the older woman’s footsteps get closer, her lantern’s menacing light casting its death-bringing glow out over the bayou.

 

Eventually, after a few of the tensest moments of Connie’s life, the blonde went back inside. The older woman was growing angry, her voice rising to a shout. “I’ll feed you to my babies, and fertilize the garden with what’s LEFT!” The housewife snarled as she wandered through the inside room, Connie listening to her boots thumping heavily on the old wood. The short woman had been about to check and see if Peridot was gone, until the older woman gave an angry grunt. “We open our HOME! We open our HEARTS! And what! DO _YOU_ DO?!”

 

A few moments later, Peridot made a loud groan of frustration, but it sounded much further away now. Connie hurried into the room and picked up the statuette, holding it up to the light. Slowly, she turned it every way she could, rotating it so that the shadow it cast would match up with the greyed out area on the painting. Lo and behold, there was a click sound, and the wall behind the painting opened up.

 

The brunette pushed the wall further open, and slid into the opening between the wooden beams. She took deep breaths as she went, trying to calm herself down. Through wooden boards she could see into the first room she had come out through, but now she was going to be on the other side.

 

She’d only walked out a little bit when, once again, her anxiety spiked. Why? Because Peridot was here too. Connie ducked behind a large pile of junk as the blonde walked in.

 

“She loves you. She wants us to be a family, god damn it.” She hissed, for such a weak looking girl she had quite the strong vocabulary. “You… YOU! All you had to do, was accept her FUCKING gift!”

 

"You're LUCKY she loves you!" Peridot was so close, too close. Connie could see her angry scowl through the furniture as she shuffled around it to keep out of sight. “We love you, why can’t you see that?!”

 

The older woman gave another hiss of rage and stomped her foot on the floor. The taller however was already starting to sneak away now that the blonde had her back turned to her. “Embrace us you brat!” Peridot screamed, and Connie scrambled away around the corner, towards a hole in the floor where a faint light glowed. “There are known unknowns here, and you aren’t paying ANY ATTENTION!”

 

Peridot was storming over, Connie could hear her getting close again as the younger girl slipped down into the hole, flinching when she heard Peridot howl with rage. “No, no, no, no, no, NO! You don’t fucking try to escape YOUR share of the blame!” Her heavy footsteps pounded on the ceiling of the passage way, shaking dust down onto Connie. “There’s no way out of there, _missy_!”

 

Connie got further into the passage, at the end was a wooden panel next to some old things, part of an old style cranking system, the crank was partially off though, it looked like it could come off completely. The brunette yelped as the wooden panel slammed shut, blocking the exit. She looked around, finding a small photo of herself standing next to a young girl. Connie frowned to herself as she held it up, looking at it with her flashlight. Why, why had she taken that stupid ‘babysitting’ job?

 

Her flashlight began to flicker before going out completely.

 

All she could hear was her heart pounding and her own shaky breathing. She shook her flashlight, trying to get it to come back on.

 

When it did, her heart had all but stopped. She was face to face with Peridot, who had a wide, wicked grin. “Where do you think you’re going?”

 

Connie screamed as she fell back, dropping her camera, and hearing it tumble backwards onto the ground. The young woman scrambled to get away when she felt Peridot’s hands grab at her ankles. She lashed out, kicking the small blonde sharply in the face and trying to crawl towards her camera. “Steven! Steven please, help me!”

 

She cried out as Peridot clamped her hands down onto her ankles, Connie’s fingernails digging into the dirt as Peridot dragged her away. “Help, Steven! _NOOOO_!”


	9. Guess Who's Back?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Steven could really use a hand right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short chapter, but the last one was long.

Steven backed away from the TV as the tape ended. His wife’s cries ringing in his ears. Rage filled his heart now, he clutched his knife tightly. “What did they do to you, Connie?”

 

He looked further around the room, hoping he would find something that would either get him out of this hellish place, or something that would put a few extra bullet holes into these people. He was done feeling sorry for them right now. The tall man opened up the trashcan and found a small pouch full of gunpowder, tucking it into a small pocket in his bag. He’d need to get rid of something soon, his bag was getting a little full.

 

On top of a small cabinet was a large book, Steven picked it up and tried to open it, but… Something was off. His dark drown eyes widened when it opened, it was one of those trick books with a pocket inside to store things in. Inside of the book was a blue metal Lion head. The first of three.

 

He smiled, feeling like he was really going to make it out of here. Steven wandered over behind the counter and opened up a drawer, inside was an open book, a journal.

 

_October 2_

 

_Reports say a storm’s coming._

 

_I had a lot of trouble cleaning up after the last one a few years back. I guess it’s about time to reinforce the windows and shore up the roof. Maybe I’ll get Amethyst to help me out._

 

_October 9_

 

_The water finally receded. The house is okay, but our old house was really badly damaged._

 

_Amethyst is making a big fuss about a huge ship that’s washed up in the bayou. If that’s true, I’d better go and report it to the parish._

 

_I’ll go check it out tomorrow._

 

Hm, they seemed almost like normal people here… Maybe this was before whatever drove them all crazy. There was another note on the counter though, he could tell this one was post- whatever the hell had happened.

 

_Peridot_

 

_Move that piece of shit hippy we caught from the hall to the processing area._

 

How lovely.

 

Who had written these notes? The journal might have been Lapis, she seemed to be the 'patriarch' of the house (he really hoped he was using that term right), she seemed to be the strongest, doing a lot of work judging by her physique.

 

The second one was most likely Lapis as well. Pearl wouldn’t have written something like that, and Amethyst probably would have just called Peridot mom or something like that.

 

He continued searching the room for anything that might help him out, but he couldn’t seem to find anything, and the spare room was locked. It was covered in what he hoped was only statues of scorpions, needing a special key to get in.

 

Steven walked out the door on the other side of the room, and looked into a few drawers. An herb rested within one, and he shoved it into his pocket. He took out his bag of chem fluid, along with his pouch of gunpowder. This was insane, but maybe, just maybe…

 

The black haired man opened the top of the bag up, and poured the gunpowder in. Closing the bag back up, he began to shake it a little gasping when he felt the weight of the liquid fade away, solid objects being left in its place. When he opened the bag again, he gazed down at the small metallic objects they had fused together to create that looked just like small bullets, perfect for his handgun.

 

Speaking of the weapon, he checked to make sure it was fully loaded, just in case one of these freaks popped up.

 

Also, it was nice to free up some room in his bag now that he no longer needed the chem fluid bag or the pouch. Steven gave a soft smile as he entered into another bathroom, making his smile fade away. This one was cleaner than the first, but that didn’t make it any less gross. The tiles were all chipped and broken, and once again the bathtub was filled with… Whatever the black sludge was. He pulled the plug out again, and the water drained slowly out, bubbling as it receded.

 

Inside the tub, among the disgusting mess that was left behind, was a wooden statuette. Steven scooped it up, rubbing the black ooze of with a somewhat clean old rag on the floor. Not like they would need it. He grabbed a box of bullets out of a shelf, and headed out.

 

Or at least he would have. As he tried to open the door, it pushed back at him, forcing him to step backwards further into the bathroom.

 

Standing in front of him, her injuries half healed and the slash on her stomach looking somewhat closed, was Lapis Lazuli. She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. “Heck of a thing, isn’t it? Sure as shit beats the hell out of dying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mummy's home.


	10. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis gets a wakeup call.

“Peridot, please, I have to go in a few days. You know I’ll be back next month, you’ll be okay. Jasper is gonna watch over you and the farm, I promise.”

 

“Lapis, please, I’m begging you, don’t go…” Peridot whimpered as she held onto the sleeve of the taller girl’s shirt. “You need to stay with me, please…”

 

Lapis sighed and hugged the blonde. “Peri, honey, I need to go back. They need me out there, those guys aren’t gonna heal themselves.”

 

In order to help provide for Peridot until their farm truly got off the ground, Lapis was working as a medic for the army. She was quite good at it, and due to the recent surplus of doctors, she was allowed to visit Peridot for a few days a month. She was thinking of quitting, thanks to her sister Jasper helping the farm was finally getting good. It wouldn’t be long before they could use it to survive.

 

A soft sound made Lapis look down, and her heart broke. Her wife, her beautiful little lover, had fat tears running down her porcelain cheeks. She was sniffling and hiccuping as she clung to the blue haired woman’s shirt. “You can’t leave me, not like this… Not now…”

 

Lapis walked Peridot over to the couch and pulled the short blonde into her arms. She stroked the younger girl’s hair and kissed her forehead and cheek. “Shh, shh baby, I know you-”

 

“No! You don’t know!” Peridot cut her off before getting off of the taller girl’s lap to stand in front of her. “You have no idea what’s going on, and now I have to spell it out for you!” The blonde shouted through her tears.

 

“Peridot, what’s wrong?” Lapis asked, and Peridot took a few sharp breaths before she responded. Lapis stood up now, worried for her wife. Was she sick?

 

“Lapis, I’m _pregnant_!”

 

The tan woman seemed to pale a bit, her icy blue eyes going wide. “W… What?”

 

Peridot’s face was flushed pink now, she put her hands onto her flat stomach and took a shaky breath. “I’m going to have a baby… During your last visit, when we slept together I… I-I was so excited you’d be coming home, I forgot all about my pill…” A few moments went by with Lapis standing there in shock. Peridot looked up at her and began to almost hyperventilate. “C-come on, say something!”

 

Lapis sat back down on the couch. She’d always wanted kids, but this was intense… She had always though they’d just adopt, but…

 

“How do you know?” She asked, her voice flat.

 

Peridot’s voice was meek, quivering. “After you left, I… I started getting really sick. So Jasper drove me to the doctor and he gave the test. It said positive.”

 

Lapis gave a silent nod. Peridot spoke up again, “Are you mad at me?”

 

The blue haired girl shook her head. “God no, I’d never be mad at you. I’m just… Shocked, y'know? I never thought I’d have kids, never thought anyone would want to.”

 

Peridot’s lips pressed against Lapis’ cheek, “This is why I want you home. I’m a tiny woman, Lapis, and this is my first pregnancy, I’m… I’m scared. I need you here, with me, I’m sick of staying up every night worrying about you, so please… Stay with me, here.”

 

Lapis pulled her wife back in, holding her close and nuzzling her head to the shorter girl’s neck. “I will. I’ll never leave, I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, in case this chapter makes you wonder, Lapis is indeed a trans woman.


	11. Hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven becomes Lapis Lazuli's newest prey before finding some relics of the past.

Lapis threw him across the room, snickering as Steven slammed into the back wall. In one of her hands was what looked like a long paint roller that was covered in nails. “My little girl has given me a gift, Steven. And that gift is going to be with me forever.”

 

The black haired man scrambled up just as Lapis swung her weapon down, wincing as he felt it scratch up his back. Peridot had mentioned a gift too, what where these people talking about?

 

Steven ran down the hall and went into the recreation room, Lapis following behind him. He shut the door on her though, letting out a yelp of fear as he saw her close behind, ready to strike at him. As he ran through the room, he could hear her still talking. “This family? It’s only just part of her gift!” She shouted as she slammed open the door, “Which, in a word means… You’re screwed!”

 

"Oh please no..." He ran down the other hall, getting some distance between himself and the blue haired woman. He left the area into the main hall, making sure to close the door behind him. Hopefully Lapis would keep looking up around there for a while… Steven could see a projector’s light shining from downstairs, that was where he needed to go.

 

Oddly enough though, the spot where the grandma had been sitting in her wheelchair was now empty. She was nowhere in sight.

 

With a small shudder, Steven went downstairs. He looked around for anything he might need, and noticed something odd. The main hall grandfather clock had a very shiny pendulum inside of it as if it was messed with often. And there hadn't been any sort of pendulum inside the living room clock.

 

The shadow painting could wait. Heading through what he called the ‘bear crest door’ he went through the back part of the house. As he remembered, the grandfather clock here had a pendulum. The clock seemed to be stuck at 10:15, in fact, all clocks seemed to be stuck at 10:15…

 

Gently, the chubby man took the pendulum out. On the back of it was a piece of tape that had the words ‘living room’ written on it. Ah, so this was what he needed.

 

When Steven went back into the living room though, he was greeted with a nasty surprise. Lapis stood there with a wicked grin. “There you are!” She hissed, and took a swing at him. Her paint roller crashed down onto the coffee table instead of Steven, the black haired man gulped as he watched the table be destroyed. “God dammit,” Lapis muttered, “How am I supposed to replace this?!”

 

“Don’t know, gotta go! Bye!” Steven responded to her, and she gave a howl of frustration as the younger man slipped away to run up the stairs. He wanted to do something with the pendulum, but now really wasn’t the time for that. He needed to be quick if he wanted to get away from her.

 

He heard her coming up the stairs after him, “I’m going to squash you like a BUG!” She shouted, before her voice went a bit quieter. “Hope Peri didn’t hear that…”

 

Steven snickered a bit, but he brushed it away when he practically dove into the rec room, hiding behind the bar as Lapis came in. The blue haired girl was seething, Steven could hear her low soft growling as she walked through the room looking for him, having left the door open.

 

Thank god.

 

“Won’t be long before I find you and GUT you!” Lapis hissed, looking around on the other side of the room. Steven quickly snuck out behind her back and quietly moved through the hall back downstairs. He moved over to the shadow painting and held up the statuette.

 

“No. Way.” He murmured in wonder as he held it up to the light. The painting was of an eagle swooping down towards a coyote, its mighty wings spread wide. What looked like a random shape in his hands was casting a shadow onto the wall that, once he rotated and spun it around, matched up perfectly. Placing the statuette onto the podium, he watched as the wall behind the painting opened up, revealing a tight hidden space he’d be able to squeeze through. “Who BUILDS this stuff?!”

 

Peeking over to make sure Lapis had really lost him, Steven hurried into the space, slipping along with his breath shaky. Not from fear though, but pure adrenaline. He was a bit disgusted when he came out the other side though, it was a thin hall with black stands of goop on the walls, come stretching across the hall forcing him to have to duck under them.

 

He left the hall through and open hole on the wall leading out to an odd looking room. It almost looked nice, there were couches all around a small coffee table that had old playing cards all over it, there were more pictures on the shelves here too.

 

The chubby man frowned sadly when he saw one of them. It had to be one of Peridot and Lapis’ wedding pictures. The blonde girl was wearing a beautiful white dress being held tightly in the air by Lapis, who wore a tuxedo. The two were kissing happily. Next was a picture of Peridot holding a small baby with tanned skin and large green eyes. That must have been Amethyst when she had been born. Next was of a teenage Lapis standing next to a much bigger, more muscular girl. The two were grinning happily. There was writing on all three of the photos once he flipped them over.

 

‘ _best day of my life (so far!)’_

 

‘ _My queen and our princess’_

 

‘ _We’re sisters.’_

 

Steven scooped them up, and placed them into his bag. He had no clue why he was taking these, he felt like it was something he needed to do.

 

There was a fridge on the other side of the room. Once Steven got it open he grinned and grabbed the chem fluid that was in there. He had a spare herb in his back, if he needed to he could make some first aid.

 

Now he was actually starting to laugh. Looking into the fridge he could see a large tray of what appeared to be lasagna next to what had to be _5_ bottles of hot sauce. “Yep, I’m in Louisiana alright.”

 

Off to the side was a locked door. Must have been a special one, because on it was the body of what seemed to be a two headed fox. So… A fox key. That was what he needed to get in there, and it seemed to be good according to his map calling it a storage room. There seemed to be a weapon in there as well.

 

He’d be needing that.


	12. Molded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> also known as “the re7 chapter where Steven goes through a single room because this is a transitional chapter”

“Ah, the plottin’ room.” Steven murmured to himself as he entered the next room. There was a large locked toolbox on a table, a soft hazy yellow glow filling the room from the ceiling lamp. There were many bookcases all filled with various boxes of junk. The floorboards were a bit squeaky here, but it wasn’t too bad. There was a small orange box on a shelf. Steven pried it open only to immediately throw it onto the floor.

 

It was filled with worms.

 

“Ugh!” Steven shuddered and quickly wiped his hands on an old leather jacket that sat on the table. “Mum’s bait box…” He was trying to do what his mother had always told him to do whenever he was in a bad situation. Look for a way, any way at all, to make yourself smile or laugh.

 

His bag and pockets were nearly full, he needed a place to dump some more stuff. As he searched the room, the black haired man stumbled over something on the floor. It was a small journal, one that was completely empty. He stuffed it into his shirt pocket for safekeeping.

 

Nearby was a whiteboard with drawings that had clearly been made by a small child. There were four little stick figures in a group, off to the side was another little figure, a little girl. Surrounded by her was a spiral of words, all scribbled in red marker, saying the same phrase over and over.

 

_I’m sorry mummy I won’t be bad anymore_

 

There was a note on the whiteboard, Steven brought it over to the light and began to read it.

 

_June 14_

 

_Vacationing husband and wife_

_The husband was a success, he’s the twelfth. But his wife is no good, so we’re just gonna get rid of her._

 

_July 7_

 

_3 college girls_

_They’re all rotten. Amethyst is a dumbass._

 

_August 13_

 

_Homeless man_

_Turned in 3 days. He’s the thirteenth._

 

Turned? Turned into what, dinner? Steven put the note back where it belonged. “Freaks.”

 

It must have had to do with the list he’d found in the guest house. People were either dead, or turned. The only other two were Connie, who had no label, and someone named Lars, who had an “A” next to his name. Maybe Lars was still alive, still able to be saved. He hoped so, he wanted to help as many people as he could.

 

The note was loose from its spot, and it fluttered down to the floor. Steven huffed and bent down to pick it up, only to go pale at the tiny picture the was clipped on to the back of the paper.

 

It was something… Strange. All black with rows of sharp jagged teeth. There looked to be someone’s head inside of its mouth, but not being eaten. They were _inside_ the creature. If that’s what people were turning into, maybe they were better off gone.

He put the picture back on, more securely this time, and took a deep breath. Everything was going to be okay. Maybe this really was a nightmare and he’d wake up at home and laugh it all off with Connie.

 

He’d leave out the part where she’d cut off his hand though. She didn’t need to know that part. At least he got better, sorta.

 

On the other side of the room, the wall was covered in pictures of people. “They… Must be victims…” Steven whispered and lowered his head. “I’m not joining them tonight.”

 

He moved on into the next room, and his brown eyes widened. The room was covered in the black mold-like substance, all over the walls, floor, furniture, ceiling, it was everywhere. There were places were large pieces came down from the ceiling and were attached to the floor. A large part of it stuck out from the wall, it seemed to be… Breathing?

 

Something was _moving_.

 

A creature slithered out from the mold, gurgling and hissing as it took shape. “What the **fuck?!** ” Steven cursed and his heart felt like it had jumped into his throat.

 

It was a least 7 feet tall with black molded ‘skin’ that hardly looked like skin at all. It had long arms with three sharp claws on each 'hand’, and three rows of sharp gnashing teeth. At the top of its head were small holes where eyes should've been.

 

Steven backed away, his anxiety flaring up as he held up his gun, taking shots at the creature’s body. It snarled and ran towards him, and Steven flinched.

 

Warm liquid splattered onto his arms. In his panic, he’d pulled the trigger and shot the monster in the head. The head seemed to be a weak spot, because it was gone now. The monster’s now headless body fell onto the floor, motionless. Steven left in a hurry, not even bothering to check the moldy room for anything he could use.

 

Steven crept out into a hallway, and looked around. There was another locked scorpion door, and the rest of the hall. He turned down the other hall. The path was splitting again, and he could either go downstairs into the basement, or into another small room. The chubby man opted for the small room, and smiled. He liked this room, it felt oddly… Safe here. He shut the door behind him, and got to work. He didn’t need his herbs, or the antique coins, so he put them into the large green box. Steven made a few more bullets, seeing as he’d used up three on the monster.

 

He sat down in the corner, and began to write in the journal.

 

'My name is Steven Universe. I’m 25 years old, and I come from Beach City in Delmarva. I’m writing in this to look back on everything, and maybe help keep myself thinking clearer. Writing out my thoughts always helps me with stuff.

 

So this house is full of nutcases. I don’t mean to be rude, calling people crazy is wrong, but I think I can make an exception for the family of cannibal hillbillies hell-bent on killing me.

 

Something is wrong with Connie. I found her here, and she seems acquainted with the family. When I found her she was weak and sickly, but soon enough she turned on me, she attacked me and cut my hand off.

 

Now I’m here. My hand is better by some miracle. A woman named Pearl stapled it on, and now it works fine? I don’t understand, I don’t know if I want to understand.

First is the mother, the blue haired one. Her name is Lapis Lazuli, and she does not play around. She’s strong, violent, and takes absolute delight in kicking my ass. She’s kinda funny, all things considered. Some things that she says, I just look back on them and laugh. I think she might have once been a good person, but she’s not anymore. I saw pictures of her from years ago, she used to be so happy.

 

There there’s the other mom, Peridot Lazuli. She’s tiny but she’s a got a horrid attitude. She seems almost like a housewife, since it seems like she does a lot of the cooking. I think she used to be really pretty, but now she looks all messy. Lapis likes to call her “Peri” a lot, it’s kinda cute. She also gave birth to Amethyst, and I guess Pearl too. She gets really really mad if you don’t eat her cooking, I thought she was going to strangle me when I didn’t eat her dinner.’

 

Steven put his back back into his pocket, and sighed as he curled up a bit tighter. The world and all its horror could wait a little while for him. He just hoped he was ready for it.


	13. Amethyst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the world, Amethyst Lazuli

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, there is childbirth here, but it's nothing too graphic.

This was it, it was now or never. Peridot had woken up that early morning to her water breaking. It had woken them up, causing Lapis to panic, immediately grab their packed bags and get her wife into the car. Their first little girl was on the way.

The blonde was screaming as she laid in the hospital bed, doctors standing nearby, wiping her forehead and rubbing her back as they watched between her legs for signs of the baby. Peridot was holding on tightly to Lapis’ hand, and the blue haired woman winced as she squeezed it tightly in her grip.

Lapis was honestly considering going to get her hand checked to see if Peridot had cracked any bones.

Her poor wife was in so much pain, they’d been here for 4 and a half hours. The blue haired girl could hardly imagine what going through those horrid contractions for so long must have felt like. She rubbed the blonde’s shoulder. “You’re doing so good sweetie, c'mon you’re almost there.”

“I HATE YOU! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” Peridot shrieked as warm tears spilled down her cheeks. Lapis knew she didn’t mean it, and just sighed. “I can’t do this!”

“Mrs Lazuli, you need to start pushing now, the baby will be here soon.” One of the doctors told her.

Lapis gave her a smile, “It’s okay Peri, I got you. It’s alright. You can do it honey I know you can.” She reassured the smaller woman, who screamed in pain again, not able to respond. If Lapis was honest, she was terrified. She wanted so badly to take Peridot’s pain away, to be helpful or just… Do anything more useful for her suffering wife than just letting her crush her hand!

The blonde’s screams reached a high point before they finally calmed down. She gave ragged breathy sobs and her grip loosened on the tan girl’s hand. Lapis had been about to say something, when she heard a different loud cry. She looked over towards the doctors and her heart almost stopped.

In their arms, crying and squirming as they cleaned her, was their baby girl. She had tan skin just like Lapis, and dark brown hair. She was so tiny, so new to the world. Tears slipped down Lapis’ face and fell onto her legs as she sat there in her chair. Nurses were tending to Peridot, wiping her face and cleaning her up best they could. The doctor was measuring and weighing the new baby in the corner of the room, making sure she was okay.

“Peri, Peridot you did it. She’s here, our baby’s here.” Lapis whispered, and Peridot gave an exhausted smile. The blue haired girl gave her wife a kiss on the forehead, “I love you so much Peridot, I’m so proud of you.”

“Ms Lazuli?” The doctor said, holding a tiny pink bundle that whimpered and squirmed a little. “I’m happy to announce, you have a healthy baby girl.” He handed their child to Peridot, who seemed to perk up and was reaching out for her baby.

“Hi sweetie pie…” Peridot said with a sniffle. “I’m so happy to meet you. I’m your momma, a-and Lapis here is your mummy.”

Lapis moved over, putting her arm around the small woman and pulling her a little closer. She gazed down at their child and smiled at her. “Hi princess. You’re so beautiful, just like your momma. I’m… I’m gonna take care of you, I’ll never let anything happen to you or your momma. I love you both so-”

She’d been gently stroking the baby’s hand, when the tiny girl had closed her little fist around Lapis’ finger. The tall woman sniffled and looked over to her wife. “What do you wanna name her honey?”

Peridot looked down at their daughter, who still held tightly on to the blue haired woman’s finger. “She was born in February, and we’re both named after stones, so… Amethyst. Her name is Amethyst.”


	14. Anniversary

If you asked Pearl Lazuli, she’d say that her parents were wonderful. They were kind, caring, patient, and always made sure no one was ever left out. If you walked onto their property, you were part of the family, and they made sure you felt like it.

 

Sometimes however, things weren’t always perfect. Her Momma, Peridot, had a bit of a bad temper sometimes, she especially didn’t like her food being insulted. And sometimes she got emotional, she would yell or cry or run out of the house and hide herself away.

 

Her Mum, Lapis, was relatively easygoing. However, sometimes she drank. It wasn’t too too often, but most of the time she just got hungry or wanted to cuddle with her wife or daughters. Sometimes she got mischievous, like putting whipped cream on Amethyst’s hand and tickling her nose while she was asleep.

 

Sometimes however… She wasn’t so kind or lighthearted. Sometimes her Mummy drank too much at once. At that point she’d be irritable, she’d snap at little things that her normal self would’ve just laughed at.

 

Tonight was one of those nights.

 

Peridot had been in a wonderful mood, working happily all day on some sort of roast. Her bright green eyes shining proudly as she hummed to herself, Pearl had watched her Momma cook and bake. Making roast, salad, cornbread, and fudge brownies for dessert.

 

Lapis sat in the living room, already having had 5 beers, way more than usual. Pearl knew her Mum had a very rough childhood, that Lapis’ father had drank almost constantly, and had done bad things… She could hear her Mum crying some nights, being soothed by Peridot. Neither of her parents had told Pearl or Amethyst what her beloved Mummy’s father had done to her. All she knew was that sometimes those memories came back to haunt her, they could drive her to drink like this.

 

“Pearl? Can you help me set up the table please?” Her Momma asked from the kitchen. “And then maybe grab your sister?”

 

The tall teen smiled at her short mother. “Sure thing, Momma.” She said, and grabbed a stack of plates and bowls, setting them up before helping her mother with the roast and salad. Pearl put the tray of brownies into the fridge where a certain older sister wouldn’t sneak them.

 

Peridot smiled as she saw Pearl hide the treats. “Thank you, cher. You all turn into a bunch of thieves every time I make somethin' sweet.”

 

The peach haired girl giggled. “I know. Cant help it though, they’re good. What’s the occasion?”

 

Peridot blushed at Pearl’s praise. “Well, you’ll see. God I hope they’re good, I really hope they’re good…” She looked a bit worried. “Hi get Amethyst, tell her supper is ready.”

 

Pearl nodded and walked up the stairs, she could hear her Momma take deep breaths before gently calling to Lapis. The tall girl walked into the rec room where Amethyst sat on a bar stool, listening to a small radio and nodding her head to the beat of the song.

 

“Ame, c'mon. Supper.” Said Pearl, and her chubby older sister hopped off the seat with a wide grin.

 

“I could smell brownies! Momma made em, didn’t she?” The purple haired teen asked. “I mean, it IS her and Mum’s anniversary!”

 

Oh no. _Oh no._ It was their anniversary and her Mum was binge drinking, her Momma was obviously stressed from working on their special dinner that day, being on her feet all day. Pearl should’ve known, she’d cooked Lapis’ favorite meat for her, along with one of her favorite desserts.

 

“Amethyst… Mum’s been drinking. A lot.” Pearl murmured, her eyes wide and her heart pounding as her complexion paled.

 

Her older sister looked up at her. “Oh shit… You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. If she says anything bad it’ll break Momma’s heart… And P, she’d never drink like this on their anniversary… Do you think…?”

 

Pearl shook her head. No. Her Mum wouldn’t forget. Not like this. Sure, the leap year day had thrown them off a little bit, and Lapis hadn’t been getting much sleep lately, but… Surely that wouldn’t screw up the bluenette’s internal calendar _too_ much, would it?

 

Lapis was sitting at the table, drinking what had to be her sixth beer now. Peridot stood by, smiling at her. “So? How is it?” She chirped as Pearl and Amethyst sat down at the table.

 

Lapis huffed, “Would you leave me be? I’m trying to relax.” The tall woman growled.

 

The blonde however, was persistent. “C'mon honey, I made it special just for you!” She said, her smile unwavering.

 

Pearl watched as her mother slammed her beer onto the table. Peridot had been a bit close to her, and had hoped a bit before Lapis pushed her away a little. “Get out. Of. My face.” Lapis glared at her before she began eating.

 

At that, Peridot’s smile became less happy, and more nervous. “How is it?”

 

The blue haired woman snapped. “It’s fine! God dammit!” Pearl’s eyes widened, her parents rarely cursed, especially at the table. Peridot gave a little gasp. “Fuck, just sit down and eat already. At least it’s not absolutely horrible like yesterday’s was.” She hissed.

 

Pearl looked over at Amethyst, who stared at their Momma. Peridot’s smile had crumbled away, her once happy gaze filled with hurt . Her bottom lip quivered, she bit it harshly as tears welled up in her eyes. Pearl opened her mouth to say something when her mother ran out of the house through the back door, sobbing.

 

Lapis looked up from her food to see her two children glaring at her. “What?”

 

Amethyst gave a hiss. “Since you made Momma run out sobbing, I’ll say it for her. Happy Anniversary you fuckin’ prick. You never should’ve started drinking at all.”

 

The purple haired teen stood up. “I’m not hungry. If you need me, _Pearl,_ I’ll be in my room.” She stormed off upstairs, slamming the door as she went.

 

Lapis looked as if she’d sobered up quick. “Anniversary…. Oh god no, I… I forgot. I forgot our anniversary, I was so tired and, and… God I’m such an idiot!” The blue haired woman got up from her chair, throwing her beer out before running after Peridot.

 

It was pouring outside, thunder rolled when Lapis stepped outside, just managing to slip her shoes on. Peridot had gone barefoot though. All she had on was her thin green dress. “Peridot!” Lapis called. Her heart raced. The weather was bad, her wife wasn’t thinking clearly, she could get seriously hurt or sick.

 

Her stomach churned at the thought of her precious wife getting injured. The thought of potentially losing her, never seeing her again, the last thing she’d done was push her away and insult her.

 

Lapis was never touching alcohol. Never again. Her own father did nothing but drink and he had beaten her mother senseless. Lapis would often get in the way, take the beatings for her. Now she was drinking, and pushing the woman she’d sworn her heart to away.

 

She shook her head, and ran towards the old barn. “Peri?!” The tall woman called out in worry. “Baby I’m so sorry! I’m a dumbass!”

 

Peridot didn’t seem to be here either. She wasn’t in the garden, or the barn, or in the trailer. Lapis wandered into their greenhouse, looking around. “Honeybee?”

 

“Go away!” Peridot sobbed loudly. She was laying on an old picnic blanket, her small, soaked body shivering. “Just go!”

 

Lapis’ heart ached to see Peridot like this. “Peri-”

 

“No! Just leave me alone, I obviously can’t make you happy!” She gave a loud wail and buried her face into her arms. Lapis knelt down and pulled her a bit closer, she was heaving and sobbing, tears, snot and rain all over her face.

 

“You do. You do make me happy. I was an idiot, Peri.” Lapis cooed softly and hugged her. “I never should’ve pushed you. Your cooking is wonderful.”

 

Peridot shook her head. “No it’s not… You deserve a better wife than stupid lil Peridot…” She whimpered and coughed a little. Lapis sighed and took off t-shirt, leaving her in her tank top as she wiped Peri’s face.

 

“Now you listen, Peri. You’re not a bad cook. Last night’s supper wasn’t your fault. You tried cooking something new, not your fault we don’t like the taste of mango, is it?” She’d tried using mango in one of her recipes the night before, it… Hadn’t gone well.

 

The blonde shook her head. “N… No.”

 

Lapis hugged her tightly. “You’re a perfect wife, Peri. You’re prettier than a field of roses. You’re sweeter than your sugar pies. You’re smart as a fox too. I don’t want a better wife, there’s no one better than you anyways. You’re my angel, my sunshine, my little honeybee.”

 

Peridot had stopped sobbing as she heard Lapis speak. “Y… You mean it?” She looked up at Lapis with soft eyes, her cheeks flushed pink.

 

“I do. Tomorrow, I’m gonna take you out for a night on the town, my treat.” Said Lapis as she pressed a soft kiss to her wife’s forehead. “Love you, babycakes.”

 

Peridot nuzzles into her neck. “Love you too, sweetheart.”

 

The next day, Peridot had work up with a bad cold. Lapis had worked non-stop to take care of the little blonde. She would make her wife happy, make sure she knew how loved and valued she was and always would be.

 

From that day forward, Lapis wasn’t going to touch a single drop of alcohol ever again.


	15. The Basement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven descends further into the Madhouse.

“I’m a brave boy... I’m brave...” Steven murmured to himself as he left the safe room. There was no way out of this area, at least, not without a scorpion key. They only way to go was downstairs, into the basement of the house.

 

Why did these freaks have a basement? This was Louisiana, that would be a... Less than wise choice. Maybe they had something to help prevent flooding, Steven didn’t care anymore. This house deserved to burn.

 

Slowly, he made his way down the stairs and peeked through the door once he opened it. There seemed to be nothing in this room, just that gross mold that was all over the place, it spread like veins on the floor, covering one corner of the room from floor to ceiling. He looked at the thickest part of the mold, eyeing it as he walked through the room. “I got my eye on you, nothing better pop out at me.” The chubby man growled.

 

The room split off into two directions, two halls. One of them was better lit, and was shorter with a door at the end, but when Steven got to it he couldn’t seem to open it, it was locked from the other side. With a sigh, he went the other way, down the long hall, keeping his pistol close and making sure to move nice and slowly. Above him was a large rusty metal tube, it looked like a spine that ran through the walls of the house.

 

The walls were caked in mold, the air reeked of rot as Steven wandered down the hall, rounding a corner and holding his gun out in his shaky hands. Nothing was there, at least... Nothing yet. His breathing echoed in his ears, he was not dying down here. Steven rounded another corner, shuddering as a bit of the mold seemed to be almost branching out, as if it were trying to grasp at him, pull him in and turn him into whatever these creatures were, or perhaps turn him into a member of the ‘family’.

 

He’d decided to call the monsters ‘Molded’. They were being shaped and created by the Lazulis, and were born from the mold. The name seemed pretty fitting.

 

There was a light around the corner, and the slightly buff man’s heart sped up when he saw the shapes of a head and shoulders moving around as shadows on the floor. Steven let out a scream when he turned the corner, and was face to face with a Molded. It let out a gurgle and swiped its long claws at him, with Steven getting a shot into the creature’s head to knock it back. It let out an angry choking roar and lunged at him, snarling and screeching as he shot it in its hip.

 

“Don’t even try it!” The black haired man threatened as he took another shot, this time into the creature’s mouth, sending it sprawling onto the ground. It got back up within moments, and Steven fired two more shots, the first one landing in the monster’s chest, the second flying into its head. The head of the Molded burst, and the body fell onto the floor.

 

“That was... A lot of teeth.” He muttered softly. “You had a lot of teeth. I saw at least 20 teeth in there...” He still couldn’t get over how large and sharp the creature’s teeth looked. He had to be careful not to get bit, it would definitely cause a lot of damage. Steven had to be cautious of how many bullets he was using up, running out would be a death sentence.

 

There was a way to go further in, but there was also now a wooden door that he could go through. He pushed the door open and looked inside. The room was covered in mold like the rest of the basement, but it also had tables coated in blood, bags of raw meat sitting on the floor. There was a body bag resting on a table, and right beside it was a large and angry looking Molded, which snarled as it saw him, running up to Steven and swinging its claws wildly.

 

He held up his arms to keep the monster from hitting him in the face, getting his arms scratched up in the process. Steven fired a shot into the Molded’s head, making it stumble back, he fired another, and it quickly fell just like the others had. Seemed Steven had gotten lucky with that one, or maybe it was just weak, or... Maybe his aim was getting better? He hoped it was the last one. He would need that desperately, because upon reloading his gun, he could see that he only had about 16 bullets left. He’d used up too many on that one out in the hall...

 

“Aim for the head, just aim for the head, and it’ll be over quicker...” He told himself, shutting the door behind him. He wanted to inspect the room without any unwanted company. There were 6 panels on the wall, many having names on them, one having a bloody handprint on it. Steven opened up one of them that said ‘William’ on a little piece of tape stuck onto the handle, it opened downwards and pulled out a long, empty metal... ‘Bed’... For lack of a better word. These were incinerators, inactive ones.

 

“This must be where they make people into monsters...” He whispered, looking around more. He found another little pouch of gunpowder in a little bowl under a table, immediately mixing it up with a Chem Fluid bag to make more bullets. Now he was back up to a much safer feeling amount.

 

He opened all of them individually, searching for anyone or anything inside. Tamara, Shawn, he’d already opened the one for William, the one with the bloody hand-print was for Craig, then next was Lara, and the last one was for Travis. It... Didn’t open. It was locked somehow. There was no keyhole for it, Steven was a bit stumped...

 

He looked around on the tables for any sort of answer, anything that would help... And found a note that had been written in some oddly loopy, more delicate looking handwriting.

 

_Amethyst,_

 

_I caught the guy who keeps trying to escape us._

_I locked him up in the leftmost incinerator so he can’t get away again. You take him out when he’s ready, okay sweetie pie?_

 

_You know how to open up the door don’t you? Remember: 3 A’s and a hand-print._

 

_Do what you want with his girl, she can be a birthday present for you if you’d like._

 

_Happy birthday babygirl! I’ll make you a nice cake tonight!_

_-Momma._

 

Well... ‘Momma’ was... Nice. This must have been Peridot, she was the one who treated Amethyst like a little kid, the purple haired woman was probably spoiled rotten from the blonde woman.  Steven could remember at the dinner table, Amethyst had snuck a quick glance over at her blonde mother before throwing her dinner plate, her  Cheshire grin had faltered too. Even after things had gone so horrible, the chubby woman was still a Momma’s girl. 

 

S o, 3 A’s and a hand-print, huh? Steven got the feeling he knew what to do. He thought about all the names, many of them had at least one A, but only 1 of them actually had 3. He opened up the Tamara incinerator, along with the hand-print one for Craig.

 

The leftmost incinerator opened up, steam coming out from it, along with the stench of the mold. A soft gurgling groan came from it, and when Steven reached his hand out the door fell open, revealing a very large Molded inside. It slipped out, falling onto the floor before rising up to tower over him. Steven’s eyes widened, one of its arms was massive, and after it swiped at the young man, it held its arm up in front of its face.

 

These creatures were smart enough to block shots.

 

Steven fired one into its stomach, backing away before quickly feeling his back hit the wall. The creature once known as Travis roared and charged at him, swinging its claws down and slashing his side. Steven fired three bullets into its head directly afterwards, killing it. “I’m sorry...” He murmured, “I’m so sorry...”

 

The Lazulis were turning people into these horrifying monsters... He shook his head, he couldn't think about this, he had work to do.

 

He needed a safe place to heal up his side, Steven limped back out of the room, he’d come back soon enough, but for now he needed to focus on something else. He went back out into the hall, and limped down a narrow over to were a green mesh gate was blocking up the rest of the area, next to it was a large door, locked of course. He yanked the gate open, and wandered into the large room. There were boxes that he should probably check, but he couldn’t right now, he NEEDED to get some place a little safer.

 

There was a large door, locked from... This side. Steven smiled as he opened it up, it led right back to the basement entrance. He made his way up the stairs and into the room where he’d been hiding, taking off his shirt and pouring the first aid juice onto himself. He had to make more of that, it felt good to use. The cold liquid seeped into his side, and he watched as the slash marks closed up.

 

He searched the room, finding a small bag of Chem Fluid, a box of handgun ammo, and a note in the drawer of a desk. His more hopeful air faded as he read the note.

 

_Dear Courtney_

 

_Those bastards are looking for me but maybe this note will give you a chance to escape._

 

_To escape, you’ve got to find these three marble pieces shaped like lion heads._

 

_I saw one of the heads in the dissection room underground, you need to get it. It’s one of the keys out of here._

 

Steven nodded, he’d already found one, now he needed the other two. He got the feeling he knew where the second one was, now all he needed was to grab it, and go downstairs to the third one. He flipped the note over and read the writing on the back.

 

_Something’s wrong with me._

_It must be that shit they made me eat._

_If I’m gonna die, I’d like to at least go out fighting._

_I’m gonna find that rec room and make these bastards regret what they did to me._

 

_You need to get out of here._

_I love you Courtney._

 

_Love, Travis_

 

Steven’s heart broke. He knew what had happened, at least Travis could hopefully rest in peace now. The chubby man was... Pretty glad he hadn’t eaten the ‘dinner’. But at the same time, the thought of Lapis happily scarfing her food down, and knowing full well what it was... A chill went up his spine, these people were monsters.

 

Now that his wounds were all healed up, it was time to head back down into the basement. Steven quickly made his way through back to where he’d been, but now he was keeping a sharp eye out for any Molded that might be lurking around in the shadows. He went back into the incinerator room, looking into where Travis had been. Laying there on the sheet of metal he’d been laying on was a bright silver key with a tag that read ‘dissection room’ attached. He slipped it into his pocket, and moved on.

 

A dark room lay ahead of the incinerator room, he could hear soft gurgling and groaning echoing through the house. Steven wiped his sweaty palms onto his pants and walked inside. “Okay... It’s okay. Nothing is gonna happen, it’s just the house making creepy noises.” The black haired man murmured to try and calm himself.

 

The sounds however, were definitely not the house. The young man whirled around and fired a shot into the throat of a Molded that had been sneaking up right behind him, using the mold covering the walls to blend in. It choked on black fluid and reeled backwards and snarled, lunging forwards and trying to bite the young man’s arm. Steven shot again, this time into its wide open maw.

 

The monster dropped dead, with a few more on the way now... Steven backed out and ran out of the room, turning the other way down the hall and into the room that had a few boxes inside. The wood they were made of look very fragile... The chubby man gave a soft grin as he swung his knife down onto the box, destroying it and sending thin, shattered wooden planks onto the floor. Inside was a some ropes, he... Didn’t really need those. The second box had a few dried herbs that weren’t really usable except for one. Finally, the last box had a small box of shotgun shells. He really needed to get that gun, the pistol was okay, but a shotgun would do more damage.

 

Inside a freezer were more bags of meat, along with an empty bowl that contained a lock pick inside.

 

He looked over onto one of the small tables, one that had been hidden by a pillar. On the table was a large bag of meat, with an odd looking piece of metal that had been stabbed into it. He gasped as he got close to it.

 

Inside of it, was the scorpion key.

 

Steven sprinted back up the stairs, his heart beating quickly. He remembered the room upstairs, in the rec room, one with a shotgun inside that would take the scorpion key to unlock. There was also a door that led away from this area, back out into the mail hall.

 

The black haired man climbed up the stairs and dropping off a few things into the safe room before dashing out over to the door, Steven could hardly believe it. This was too good to be true, he felt so much closer to getting out of here! “Yes, yes, yes!” He cheered. “All I have to do I find the shotgun and I’m golden.” As he got to the scorpion door he pulled out his key and bent down to eye the lock.

 

He slipped the scorpion key into the lock, and raised an eyebrow. When it came to locking doors, these people really went all out. There was a loud ‘ker-chunk’, and the door unlocked. Steven put the key back into his bag, and walked out into the main hall. “Hmm... Now what... I’ve got the lovely options of: horrifying monster that’s probably hiding in the basement... Or fighting the Molded that happen to be in the basement too.” He snickered softly to himself at his little jab at Lapis.

 

That is, until he heard the blue haired woman’s voice from right above him, upstairs. “I don’t think that description is very accurate.” She said smugly, before jumping down from the railing right in front of Steven, slamming her nailed up paint roller down before swinging it again, slamming it into the black haired man’s shoulder. “This is for my wife, fucker!” She snarled.

 

“Sorry about that!” Steven shouted sarcastically at her as he groaned in pain, making his way up the stairs. He slipped into the upper halls, Lapis following him up the stairs. He shut the door behind him and took off down a hall into the rec room. Hopefully having doors slammed shut on her would slow her down.

 

He sprinted over to the locked door, the one that needed the scorpion key, and shoved it in. “Steven! Oh Steeeeveeeen! Where are you, city boy?” Lapis called out to him. His heart beat wildly in his chest, he grabbed his last first aid bottle, splashing it onto his wound before he crouched down to hide behind a large dresser. “It won’t be much longer now son, I’ll find you. And when I doooo...” She taunted in a sing-song type voice. The black haired man was so happy he’d shut the door before she’d gotten in.

 

“UGH! Where are you, you little shit?!” Lapis snarled, going out through the other door, slamming it behind her. Steven gave an incredibly shaky sigh of relief. He looked around the room, finding an odd note, a very old one at that.

 

_Dear Mrs Peridot Lazuli_

 

_How have you been feeling lately? It’s been quite a while since your last check-up._

 

_I’m writing this to you to tell you that I've finished examining your X-rays. Those dark areas in your cranium are fungus-like structures, they seem to be related to mold._

 

_The hallucinations and noises that you said you’ve been hearing and seeing may be related to these growths. Please come to the hospital as soon as you read this letter. As your doctor, I strongly recommend you undergo further testing._

 

_Dr. C. Lang_

_Dulvey General Hospital_

 

God, what had HAPPENED to these people?! They’d been getting sick, probably from all the mold in the house, but why was it here, did it drive them insane? Obviously they’d been normal once, and Peridot had at least been smart enough (or scared enough) to get to a doctor...

 

If it was a sickness though... Did it have a cure? Could these people actually be helped?

 

He couldn’t think about that now. He had to get out of this house.

 

Lapis seemed to be truly gone, he stood up from his hiding place and grabbed the gun off the dresser. He sighed when he saw it. It was broken. Now, he COULD repair it, he’d worked with his aunt Bismuth, a gunsmith, and she’d taught him everything she knew about repairing guns. But the supplies that it would take... They probably weren’t here. Maybe though.

 

The black haired man was so glad he’d dropped off some things. He stuffed the shotgun into his bag and left the room, making absolute sure to be very careful when rounding the corner, making sure Lapis wasn’t watching. Odd... She seemed to have left the area.

 

He hurried down the stairs and into the other hall past the first crested door he’d had to unlock. The living room was this way, he needed to grab a Lion head before anything else. If Lapis had retreated off somewhere his top priority was to grab one of the keys to get himself out of this place. Besides, if she came around again, he had plenty of bullets.

 

The air in the hall was thick with the scent of meat, maybe Peridot was here, cooking another of her horrific meals. He really didn’t want to run into the nasty blonde. He could still remember her awful little grin, a cockroach crawling on her back and into her shirt.

 

Or maybe a meal had just been reheated by Lapis. The way she’d been eating, Steven had a feeling she loved it. In fact, they all seemed to love the way they were, they were probably all delusional, living in some sort of fantasy that they were just trying to be nice to people who were rejecting them for, in their minds, ‘no reason’.

 

Steven crept around and into the living room, keeping low to the floor in order to sneak around. He could hear faint footsteps down in a hallway. “Amethyst! Where’d that shithead get to now?!”

 

He held in the urge to scream. Quickly as he could, the black haired man slipped the pendulum out of his pocket and hooked it into the old clock. It rapidly began to move up and down, the clock chiming loudly within seconds. “Ah, no no, shh!”

 

“Oh, looks like little Stevie found a toy! You havin’ fun playing?” Lapis crowed, Steven watching as she walked in. “Well... Game’s over.”

 

He managed to grab the white lion head that had fallen from a secret compartment inside the grandfather clock, and swiftly dodged the blue haired woman’s weapon. Stuffing the marble piece into his pocket, Steven ran out of the room. He moved quickly, firing a shot at her and catching the tall woman in the stomach. Lapis winced, taking a step back and clutching her abdomen. “Motherfucker!”

 

Steven ducked around a corner, and lunged forward to duck behind a chair, watching as the blue haired girl came around the corner, a hand pressed onto her bleeding stomach.

 

Taking ragged breaths, Steven fired two bullets into Lapis’ right leg. She gave a cry of pain and fell to the floor, writhing around, whimpering and coughing up black and red liquid onto the carpet. Steven shuddered, and ran off.

 

Going to the front door, Steven quickly put the lion head into its proper place, hearing it slide in with a click. Then, heading into the small room with the shotgun, he began to take deep breaths.

 

He was glad he’d found a few rounds for this gun down in the basement, it wasn’t much but it would be enough for now. Steven lifted the gun off the statue, jumping when the metal door closed behind him as the statue rose up slightly from where it had been settled into the pedestal. Carefully removing the broken shotgun from his backpack, Steven replaced it.

 

After a moment, the statue went back down into place, the rusted iron door opening back up.

 

He loaded up the shotgun, and made a run for the door towards the hall that led to the basement. Heading into the room where he’d stored his things away, he began to carefully sort through his things again, just to be sure. Steven kept all his ammo, along with anything that would heal wounds. His weapons would be coming with him, along with the scorpion key and key into the dissection room. A note in Grandma’s room had said the last lion head would be hidden down there.

 

Quietly humming to himself, Steven walked slowly through the basement once again. He hated it down here, why was it so chilly all of a sudden? The chubby man could feel goosebumps all over his arms. Maybe the air conditioning had been turned on... There _were_ generators down here...

 

The air was filled with the smell of blood, death, and alcohol as Steven approached the dissection room door. He slipped the little key inside and slowly opened the heavy door, keeping his pistol close. His eyes widened. There, hanging on the wall, was the body of the deputy. In front of him, sitting there on a shelf, seemingly innocent, was the last lion head.

 

Steven crept forward, but when he reached out to grab it, a bloody tan hand landed on it first.

 

“I was gonna be her mother.” Lapis growled, her voice slurring ever so slightly, she had definitely been drinking... The blue haired girl grabbed the lion head, gripping it tightly with her back to Steven, her voice dripping with hate. “But now, she says he will be her _father_... No-no-no-no-no.”

 

Lapis took a shuddering breath. “I will  _ find _ him... And I will make him  _ suffer _ .” She glanced up at the deputy’s body. “And you, pig... You’re gonna help me.”  With that, she walked out, taking the last key to freedom with her.

 

To his side was a locker, Steven opened it up. Inside was a little box of shotgun shells. He tucked them safely into his pocket. Steven glanced over at the deputy’s body and his heart raced. Black mold was growing on it from his head, glittering in the weak light. His whole body was slowly getting bulkier.

 

Down the hall was another small stairway leading down. The tall man carefully went down it, noting the puddles on the floor. This place reeked of death...

 

When he rounded a corner, Steven took note of the holes in the massive stone blocks. Most were empty, but some had bullets, shotgun ammo, and one even had an herb. He made first aid liquid using an empty beer bottle, and moved forward. The door into the next room was heavy, and there was a long metal staircase to lead up. Walking down the metal path, he shivered. There were somewhat clean white body bags hanging from the ceiling, heads pointed towards the floor.

 

Down the path was a doorway, but when he peeked inside he could see that it was the room that he had been in, only now he was on the opposite side of all the junk, where Lapis had been standing next to the body of the deputy... Steven didn’t bother going inside.

 

The area below had three more body bags hanging, tightly bound with rope. It was small, square, and was stained with blood. He could spot wire mesh that covered up some old tools. The whole thing looked like an arena. “This has got to be some kinda trap, I can feel it...”

 

Hanging there, above the lower floor where the railing had broken, was a large hook, wrapped with what had to be barbed wire. Nestled inside of it, was the final lion head.

 

The black haired man reached out and gently plucked the red marble lion head out from the its barbed wire nest. His hands were shaking, and shivers ran down Steven’s spine. This was _way_ too easy.

 

Steven gasped as he felt a sharp kick to his back, his heart racing as he fell down into the lower half of the room, the wind knocked out of him. The chubby man wheezed as he rolled over onto his side, watching in horror as Lapis jumped down, a smirk on her face.

 

He stood up and winced, watching the wounds on the older woman closing up. She had no weapon, but she cracked her knuckles and grinned maniacally. Steven began to shake as she took off her suit jacket, throwing it onto the floor, exposing the white tank top underneath along with her lean yet muscular arms.

 

“Oh I don’t think so, city boy, you think you’re gettin’ away from me THAT easily? Now you’ve got nowhere to run.”


	16. Dissection Room Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Lapis have an interesting chat.  
> Also, this is where things start to change.

Steven coughed as he scrambled to get up, Lapis smirking as she threw punches, managing to catch him in the wrist and abdomen.  
  
  
“What’s the matter, city boy, scared?” She said with a laugh. Steven pulled out his pistol quickly, shooting Lapis in the stomach. She recoiled for a moment, wrapping her arm around herself, using a pillar to hold herself up better. “You little bitch…” The blue haired woman spat.  
  
  
He backed away from her, putting the Red Lion Head into his backpack, and making sure his pistol was loaded up before taking another shot, hitting Lapis in the side of her head. She didn’t seem to feel that one as much.  
  
  
“Oh, now I’ve had it with you.” Lapis hissed. She dodged his next bullet and rushed him, slamming his legs with one of her own strong ones to send Steven crashing to the ground. “You come into my god damn home, no, you _BREAK INTO IT!_ ”  
  
  
She slammed her foot onto his hip.  
  
  
“You insult MY wife! _AND_ our little girl!” Another kick before she dropped down to look the young man in the eyes, blood slowly trickling from the side of her head, running down her cheek. “You hurt me, steal my things, and now, you’ve got the fucking gall to try and run? _I don’t think so, Steven_.”  
  
  
She huffed, standing up and lightly straightening her shirt and tie out before walking over towards an area of the room that had a fence over it. “Now I’m gonna take everything you’ve got.”  
  
  
Lapis ripped the fence away, pulling out a long and very large weapon. Steven slowly stood up, staring in awe and horror. In the blue haired woman’s hands was a bright red pair of homemade chainsaw scissors. He gulped.  
  
  
The older girl laughed, revving them up and opening the deadly blades. Her eyes lit up like a child on Christmas. “Pretty!”  
  
  
“Not pretty!” Steven squealed, and dashed away from the monstrous woman as she swung them near him. He tried to shoot her, but the most he did was slow her down ever so slightly.  
  
  
Without much warning other than a deranged chuckle. Lapis opened the blades wide, a wicked smile on her face. She charged straight at him.  
  
  
Between them was a single white body bag that hung from the ceiling, Steven gave the bag a heavy kick in her direction, causing Lapis to be thrown back a bit, groaning as her weapon stalled.  
  
  
Shooting her in the back and dashing to the fenced area, Steven looked inside for anything useful. Sitting on the bench was an old chainsaw, but it was far too rusted up to be useable.  
  
  
The only thing left was a long blade, recently sharpened by the look of its edge. A machete.  
  
  
He was going up against that psychopath’s chainsaw scissors… _With a machete_.  
  
  
Better than nothing, he reasoned, as bullets weren’t doing the trick. Steven sprinted to where Lapis was getting back on her feet and dug the weapon into her back, carving it downwards. The blue haired girl screamed before…  
  
  
Steven stared in disgust as two fleshy appendages burst from her back, resemble wings. His first instinct was to slash at them, and so he did.  
  
  
After a few hits, they reabsorbed back into Lapis’ body. The blue haired woman was furious. She swung down near Steven, grazing his shoulder and making him nearly cry with pain.  
  
  
She opened up the blades again, and the young man had no choice but to simply get out of her way when she charged, before somewhat hiding behind a body bag.  
  
  
“Aww, heh, big tough guy all scared? You don’t have to be scared of me.” Her voice changed to a softer tone. “Come on out, I know you’re there, Son.”  
  
  
Steven peeked out, and shot her in the chest. He wasn’t falling for that. Lapis gasped in pain, shivering and coughing as the “wings” burst from her back again.  
  
  
Pulling the machete out, he slashed them again, as much as he could. Lapis elbowed him this time. “You son of a bitch!”  
  
  
She stood up, about to punch Steven in the face, when his instincts took over. His eyes widened, as did the hers. In a flash of desperation for survival, Steven had slashed down, sinking his blade deep into Lapis’ throat.  
  
  
She dropped her weapon, taking a step back, her bright blue eyes full of fear as she tried to pull it out, managing to whisper out a strangled “No…”  
  
  
Lapis collapsed to the floor, a large puddle of blood pooling around her as she finally succumbed to her wounds. Her legs tried to move, tried to pull her lifeless body up, only to give out and fall back down.  
  
  
Lapis Lazuli was dead.


	17. A Way Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven goes for a little walk outside.

“Just stay dead.” Steven murmured as he stared at Lapis’ body. “Please.”

 

Gently, he picked up his machete off the ground, it had been coated in blood… He looked over near the workbench where it had been found. Beside it was a metal door, with bars along it to give it the appearance of a prison cell door.

 

There was a somewhat small chain keeping it locked. Steven lifted the machete up and swung down as hard as he could. The chain broke, but it took the blade with it. It had gotten bent, and was starting to crack, it wouldn’t last much longer. The black haired man threw it onto the ground, watching it land near Lapis’ body with a sick scraping sound against the concrete.

 

He pushed the door open, and walked through the basement, keeping his shotgun close in case anything wanted to surprise him.

 

When he walked up the stairs, he could hear someone, a woman’s voice, softly singing.

 

“Go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rho-o-dy, go tell Aunt Rhody, that everybody’s dead…”

 

A shiver went down his spine as he made it to the last step, and turned the corner to see where the noise was coming from. Just as he did, it stopped. Steven was now staring at the Grandmother, who was now silent.

 

“Oh, it’s… It’s just you. I uh… I’m sorry if I disturbed you?” He stammered, she was so strange. Her thin pale blue hair hung in front of her eyes, only moving when she weakly turned her head to look up at him, showing off her brilliant blue, almost pure white eyes. “Just uh… Don’t go downstairs, okay? You… Uh… Sit tight.” He didn’t touch her, he didn’t even have the heart to have any aggression towards her, she was just a little old lady, even if she was creepy as hell.

 

Steven awkwardly walked into the main hall after healing up his wounds, as he shut the door behind him, he could hear Grandma begin to sing again.

 

He wouldn’t hurt her, but Steven wasn’t sure he very much liked Grandma.

 

The phone in the main hall began to ring, and with a soft groan, the chubby man picked it up. “Hello.”

 

“Hey, I see you got all the Lion Heads, good job.” Said Pearl, who sounded half amused, half genuinely impressed. “Now, get out of the house, and get to the my trailer, it’s out in the yard. The monsters won’t attack you in there, it’s safe. I’ll tell you more when you get in and rest for a while.”

 

“Alright,” Steven nodded and took the Lion Head out of his pocket. “I’ll see you there?”

 

“Go. Hurry.” And… She hung up. The tall man sighed, and pushed the marble piece into the door, it clicked, and he could hear gears turning inside. If he had the chance, he would find out how they designed that, it was incredible.

 

He pushed open the door and gasped. The Lazuli estate was even bigger than he thought. There was a massive yard, with a few small dim lights along an overgrown path. Off the the right was a large barn with Christmas lights, odd decorations made from household appliances, and loud music coming from within. He got the distinct feeling that Amethyst was inside. Behind that, more in the center, was an old gate that led to another area, where an old looking building stood, its broken glass ceiling briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning. He gulped.

 

More to the left was an old trailer, with pink and blue curtains covering the windows. That had to be Pearl’s trailer. Moving quickly through the pouring rain, Steven climbed up the small metal stairway and into the trailer. It was warm, softly lit up with an orange lamp, along with pink, white, and and pale blue fairy lights. In the corner was a mattress, beside it was a closet, a mini fridge, a small TV, VHS player, a corkboard full of notes and pictures, and a table with a rotary phone sitting there. As Steven reached for it, it rang.

 

“Hey, glad you could make it.” Pearl sounded much more amused than last time. “Congrats, you’re officially the first person to make it this far.”

 

“Lucky me.” Steven grumbled. Pearl simply chuckled.

 

“Okay, now, I need you to go through the gate, and into the old house. I need something in there…” Her time changed, she sounded sad all of a sudden.

 

“Pearl, are you okay?”

 

“My family and I… Our bodies are contaminated.”

 

 _‘I’ve noticed.’_ He wanted to say, but he kept it in.

 

“In order for me to escape, I need a cure to flush it all the contamination out. I need the serum. I think my Momma has the ingredients for it stashed away in the Old House. Get it, and you, me, and Connie can all escape.”

 

Connie? Was she okay? Steven’s heart aches for her, he needed to save her from this hell. “Got it. I’ll get in, and find them. You can count on me.”

 

Pearl seemed to laugh softly, before her voice dropped to a more worried tone, as if she’d suddenly remembered something. “I just hope you can handle my Momma…” She hung up.

 

Momma… That had to be Peridot. Steven got the feeling she wouldn’t be happy to see him.


	18. The Old House Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven gets to meet Peridot's new babies

Steven got up from the bed, sighing softly. He’d only rested for a half hour, but it felt like it was enough. He began to look around the room. On a table was a photograph, Steven picked it up and frowned.

 

It was them. The Lazulis, all cuddled on the couch. Amethyst, only about 4, sat on Lapis’ lap, with Lapis having an arm around Peridot, smiling at her as the blonde held another child, very young looking, a toddler at most. Her skin was lighter, and her hair was a soft peachy color, her eyes a bright blue. That must have been Pearl. Steven flipped the photo over, and read the small, nest writing on the back.

 

_“I want to save them.”_

 

Being very gentle, Steve slipped the photo with the others he’d taken.

 

He looked on some shelves, but they didn’t hold anything too interesting. The tall man decides to take a look at the cork-board, reading the notes that had been pinned on.

 

_“My body’s feeling weirder and weirder, soon I’ll be just like Mummy and Momma._

 

_It’s all her fault._

 

_Should I try and run away? No, I’m dead if she finds out._

 

_That woman she came with, Connie, I bet she knows something. Maybe she knows how to get the infection out._

 

_There’s a cure. A serum. If I had the serum I could get out of here, I need to find out more.”_

 

Steven nodded as he took the information in, he wanted to help Pearl and Connie, he would make sure they were freed.

 

The chubby man peeked into the closet, hoping for more items to take other him. His eyes widened a bit seeing a pale pink bra hanging from a tiny hook.

 

“Probably Pearl’s. Probably shouldn’t be looking at it.” He closed his eyes as he shut the little closet door. “I think that about covers everything… Time to go see Peridot…”

 

He made his way out of the trailer, the rain rain having slowed down to a small drizzle. When Steven managed to get to the gate though, it was locked from the other side. Making his way through the overgrown plants, Steven found a path near the back of Pearl’s trailer.

 

Using his flashlight to make sure he didn’t fall, and keeping his weapon close to him, he made his way down towards the water, to the old house. Pushing a different gate open, he recognized with horror that he was in the exact spot that Connie had started filming her video to him. Same bridge, same gate, same, creepy, beaten baby dolls hanging from the roof over it.

 

Would she be in this house too? He hoped she would be. He would find her, and get her out of here.

 

Fearfully making his way down towards the house, Steven could hear faint noises coming from inside. Two crates sat on the porch of the house, and Steven took out his knife to break them open. The first held some bullets for his shotgun.

 

The second one? Upon being broken open, the only thing that tumbled out was a bunch of writhing, scuttling _bugs_.

 

Steven let out a shriek and jumped back, shuddering at the sight of them. He remembered with a shiver that Peridot seemed to like bugs…

 

Very quickly, he opened the old, rotting doors to the house. And once again his heart began to race. There flying in front of him was a winged insect about the size of a housecat. Its legs drooped down and it’s large abdomen was swollen, presumably with venom. It hovered around, until it very quickly met Steven’s pistol. Its remains scattered on the floor, along with another one that sat on the wall.

 

“Absolutely not! You don’t exsist! No!” Steven shouted in an attempt to maybe frighten any bugs around, and also calm himself down. He felt a chill down his spine and shuddered. This place was disgusting.

 

It was old, that was for damn sure. The wood has begun to rot and collapse, the floral wallpaper was peeling, stained and faded, there were pale brown bug nests on the walls and ceiling, along with scattered papers and junk.

 

On the floor was a long paper, with what looked like plans for some kind of homemade flamethrower. It had a nozzle and a grip laying around somewhere.

 

He turned to the first door he saw, and slowly opened it up. There was a large pile of old furniture, with one of the nests resting almost on top of it. Steven got close, inspecting it, until he heard a swarm of angry buzzing.

 

Mutated wasps, at least 10 of them, all the size of his fingers, flew near, the young man ran off as quickly as he could, narrowly avoiding them.

 

Maybe it would be best if he took a similar path to the one Connie took. Steven went over to were she had gone through, the massive hole in the floor still a shock to him. He made sure to not tip over any of the candles that had been placed randomly around.

 

Going the exact path his wife went out to the porch, Steven frowned at the sight of the shadow painting, whose statuette had now been hidden away somewhere. He’d find it.

 

Out on the porch, there wasn’t very much. The there were some trashcans, but most didn’t yield anything. A small box held a lockpick though, which was nice.

 

The last trash can he looked into through, held something quite important. The burner grip, needed for the flamethrower. He though about Peridot, the woman who had taken his wife away, who might have been holding her prisoner here, and was guarding their ticket out.

 

He had the feeling she wouldn’t quite like this flamethrower. Steven grinned.


	19. To The Old House, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds out what's been going on, Steven finds Connie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a gross bit, just a warning. Involving blood and bugs.

Peridot smiled as another one of her babies crawled into her hand. “Why, hello there, sweetie pie.” She cooed, gently stroking the little beetle that rested on her pinkie. It purred happily. “Do you have anything to tell Momma? Or did you come for a little treat?”

 

She loved to give her babies treats, mostly seeds, and small pieces of fruit she could find. Sometimes the blonde gave them meat, but they needed a balanced diet.

 

When her little beetle closed it’s wings tightly, she knew something wasn’t right. Peridot frowned. She often sent her smaller babies out to spy on others, to check and make sure they were okay. She could hear their voices in her mind, her beautiful wife and daughters, and sometimes she could hear Pearl’s voice as well.

 

“What’s the matter cher, you can tell me, I won’t be upset. What did you see?” She held it up and gave it a small kiss. “Tell Momma.”

 

It began to speak in a small, warbled voice. One that only she could understand. It spoke of the man that had become their newest guest. About how he had angered Lapis, the two had fought twice in the house, once in the garage, where her wife had shown off the blessing of Her Gift. Next was the dissection room…. Lapis was hurt, badly.

 

 _“Don’t worry my love, I will make him feel the same pain you did. I will make sure he feels the worst fear he ever has.”_ Peridot whispered, she would End this boy.

 

She could sense him wondering through this place, her old home, her bug infested sanctuary.

 

Her baby flew away into the darkness, leaving the blonde alone in her tiny room. Peridot’s heart filled with rage. She began to shake, she hated this part.

 

Her body lurched forward, and Peridot began to cough. Blood splattered onto her gloved hands, along with the floor, dribbling down her chin as the short woman wretched. A long, dark red centipede crawled out of her mouth and onto her hands.

 

As much as she loved her babies, sometimes they hurt her, a lot…

 

Wiping her mouth clean, Peridot set the creature onto the ground. “Go…” She croaked, her voice hoarse. “Go play, Momma has work to do… I’ll be back with a nice, big, meaty dinner for all of you.”

 

~~~

 

Steven was so sick of this place. It was so much creepier than the Main House. The floorboards creaked and groaned, faint buzzing could be heard, bugs scuttling all over the place. He at least had a part of the flamethrower, and had found a can of fuel for it.

 

The nozzle would be able to direct the spray of the fuel, and the the grip would allow him to lit a little flame and spray the fuel through it.

 

At least…. According to the blueprints. He hoped it would work.

 

Wondering down a hall, he spotted a vase, rotting flowers were inside, their grey petals fallen to the floor. Beside it was a paper, a map of the house.

 

The upper floor didn’t have much, there was a kids room, a detention room (whatever that meant) and a… Contaminated room…

 

The floor he was on had more to it, but so many names were scribbled away it was hard to tell what they were called. He at least knew where he was.

 

He made his way around a corner, as calm as he could get himself to be in this situation, until he noticed something on the wall, painted onto the old wallpaper in blood.

 

_She’s upstairs_

_~~Don’t~~ go up_

 

“Oh…” He murmured, and started to shake a little. This was going to be much worse. A nest buzzed angrily near him, and the black haired man could spot large spiders crawling along a metal grated cabinet. “Starting to miss the Main House now…”

 

Getting back out onto the porch, Steven quickly made his way across the small bridge over the water, into a little lit up room. He looked around it, for anything that would be able to help… Not much. Although, Steven was quite happy to see a backpack stashed underneath a little table, one that was larger than his own. As fast as he could, the tall man slipped all his things inside.

 

Heading back inside, he began to check the room where the shadow painting of the spider was. He needed to find the statuette for it, Peridot had probably hidden it away.

 

He opened up a nearby wardrobe and frowned. Nothing inside, well… Almost nothing. A small spider crawled out and onto the floor, calmly leaving him be. Another thing inside, hanging from a little clothing hanger, was a black piece of fabric. Steven turned it a bit to investigate…

 

“Oh. Great. Another bra.” He rolled his eyes a bit, why was he so unlucky with this?! The buffish man came to a rather gross conclusion though. There was no way Pearl was here, and there was no sign of Amethyst or Lapis… Which meant it belonged to Peridot.

 

He shuddered a little, and put it back into the cabinet as fast as he could.

 

Down the hall, holding his flashlight and pistol close, Steven jumped a bit when he heard a thump. There was a harsh creaking sound, before three massive bugs burst from the window, trying to sting and bite, hovering around him. He took out two, but had been bitten and stung at least twice before he shot the third. His arm ached horribly. Shaking, Steven poured his first aid liquid onto it, being thankful to find more chem fluid on a table. He had some herbs still, and there were old mason jars littered about. He must have been standing in an old kitchen. There were old jars of preserved fruits, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes. One of the jars had been recently opened, Peridot must have gotten hungry.

 

The family must have done this back when they were sane, back when this was a farm. A home.

 

Cautiously opening the door to a different part of the outside, Steven groaned softly in fear. There were more walkways over the swamp, but a massive nest sat at the corner of it, pulsing as wasps flew around it. “Okay, just… Gotta walk fast, so I don’t become their lunch.”

 

At that, he bolted across the bridge, crying out as the insects stung his back and shoulders.

 

After getting away from it and catching his breath, Steven entered the small room and shut the door tight, shivering a bit from fright. He hated this so much.

 

Quickly, Steven searched the tiny place. There wasn’t much here… With an exception. Upon opening up a small wooden box, he found what looked like… A nozzle? It all clicked in his mind. He managed to gently twist it onto the burner grip, the two fitting together like puzzle pieces. The chubby man put one of the small cans into the grip, and a tiny flame sprung from the nozzle. Whoever had built this had definitely done a good job.

 

He pressed his ear to the door, when Steven couldn’t hear buzzing, he crept outside. The little creatures were swarming at their nest. He held up the homemade flamethrower and took aim. Holding down the grip, Steven watched in disgust as the nest burst into flames, the wasps around it catching fire and falling into the swamp below. The outer layer of the nest exploded, leaving a sleek, sickly orange core exposed. A horrid scent drifted through the air, like a strong, flowery perfume mixed with the reek of death.

 

Steven pulled out the shotgun he kept and shot at the nest twice, causing the rest to explode into slimey orange honey.

 

“Well that was… Something.” He muttered and went back to the house. Retracing his steps towards the front. Why? He had seen something there, a nest that was blocking what looked to be a mantle. He peeked inside.

 

Unfortunately for him, the door had other plans, opening wide and making the bugs notice him. Two large ones buzzed around him while a swarm flew all around. Steven took out the flamethrower and managed to hit the swarm, quickly turning most of them to nothing more than ashes. When one of the large bugs stung at his hand, Steven swung at it with the knife, not only hitting the hug, but killing it. He dodged the other one’s attack. It hissed lowly and Steven shrieked as he swung at it too, sending it dazed onto the floor before using his shoe to finish it off.

 

He never liked to kill bugs normally, but… Safe to say in this place it was kill or be killed.

 

With the swarm scattered off, the black haired man could finally get to work on the nest. When the outer shell burned away, about 4 angry little bugs tried to rush him, only to be fried by the flames. The core was exposed before long, and quickly taken care of.

 

With an excited gasp, Steven knelt down. Hidden by the nest was a secret passage. Careful not to slip into the slime, Steven crept under. It was bigger inside, a short cement staircase kept somewhat clean other than small cracks, with dim white lights managing to somewhat light up the way. Steven walked down them, listening intently for anything.

 

He opened the heavy wooden door to find a very dark room, matching the rest of the house, candles dimly lighting it.

 

“Steven?” A soft, frightened voice made him jump.

 

He turned to see a metal wire fence, a large metal door at he back of the room.

 

Connie stood on the other side of the fence. “Steven.” Her eyes filled with shame and sorrow as she held on to the fence.

 

Steven held on too. “No more of this, Connie. I need answers.”

 

“I know, I know. You’re right.” Connie nodded. “I shouldn’t have lied to you, and I always wanted to tell but… But I can only remember a little and the rest- it’s just gone!” She looked distressed, her breathing shaky.

 

Without a sound, Amethyst stepped out from the shadows, grabbing Connie around her neck and waist, smirking at Steven. “Daddy, right? You uh, mind if I borrow Mommy for a little bit?”

 

Connie struggled to get out of the shorter woman’s tight grip, but Amethyst held strong, murderous glee shining in her childish green eyes. Using only one hand, the same one that had been sliced off, she yanked open the metal door, holding it open with her foot and watching Steven.

 

“Well? Don’t just stand there, Dipshit! DO SOMETHING!”

 

Connie let out a scream as Amethyst dragged her away. “Steven HELP!”


	20. Little Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another fluffy chapter, because I was in need of some happiness.

“Momma big!” Amethyst squeaked as she watched her mother cooking. Lapis snickered and ruffled her hair, watching her lovely wife.

 

“Yeah, Momma is gettin big, eh?” She pressed a little kiss against her daughter’s head, and smiled at Peridot when she turned around.

 

The blonde was blushing, smoothing her dress over her swollen belly, pressing one of her little hands to it. Lapis got up from her seat and went over to her, hugging the blonde from behind, nuzzling into the crook of her neck and rubbing her stomach for her, feeling little movements within.

 

“But,” Lapis murmured, “I think she looks beautiful like this.” The older woman pressed a few kisses against Peridot’s neck.

 

The blonde started to giggle, squirming a bit. “Lapis! That tickles!” She wiggled her way out of Lapis’ hug and went back to the stove. Bacon was frying, along with eggs. The smell of them made Lapis’ mouth water, she adored her wife’s cooking.

 

“Hungry!” Said Amethyst, the toddler getting somewhat fussy. “Wan’ foooood!”

 

Turning the stove burners off and quickly putting their food onto plates, Peridot walked up to Amethyst and scooped the chubby little girl up. “I know, baby. Momma made your favorite too, Mummy’s just cutting it up for you. Why don’t we sit down at the table?” She carried Amethyst out, Lapis cutting up her daughter’s food and watching them.

 

Amethyst refused to let go of Peridot, she clung tightly to her, wanting to cuddle. Peridot sighed, laughed softly, and held onto her.

 

Lapis sighed with bliss as she carried Amethyst’s plate out, along with one for her wife, and then herself. She liked to do little things for Peridot, helping to set the table for her was one such thing, especially now that the younger woman was pregnant.

 

The three ate in peace, listening to the fans in the living room whirl, it was getting hot again. Their new hour was almost done, and they were almost ready to fully move into it. For now, they had their little house on the water.

 

After they were finished, Peridot took their plates away before sitting back down, looking at Amethyst with a happy little smile. The brunette child looked at her stomach again.

 

“Why Momma so big?” She asked, they had been holding off on telling her the big news, just in case anything happened to the baby. But it was almost time for their new little girl to be born now.

 

Lapis picked her daughter up, holding her and bringing her to sit on the couch. Peridot followed close behind, sitting beside them, smoothing her dress over her stomach and placing her hands on it. “We have a very big surprise for you, cher.” Peridot told Amethyst, who watched her curiously. “Momma is going to have a baby very soon, you’re going to be a big sister.”

 

Amethyst squealed with delight, crawling on the couch to hug and cuddle Peridot. Lapis scooted over, keeping both… Well, all three of her favorite girls close. She kissed Amethyst’s forehead, before giving her wife a little peck on the cheek, followed by leaning down to press a very gentle smooch onto her belly.

 

She had a beautiful growing family all her own, and Lapis loved every member.


	21. Peridot, Mother of Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven get to meet Peridot and more of her babies. There's some angst in this one.

“Dammit.” He hissed, banging his fist against the chain link fence and sighing. Steven quickly looked around the room for anything that could be of use. The only thing he could really see was a small table, illuminated by a single candle, a stone statuette resting on top.

 

He took the candle and sat in the darkest corner of the room before retrieving his little journal.

 

“Amethyst took Connie. She’d better not hurt her. The woman seems like a spoiled little shit. Seems her hand grew back from Lapis cutting it off. Now I’m starting to wonder if these people even can die. If they can’t, I’m dead meat if I have to go back to the mansion, because I get the feeling Lapis would definitely kill me.

That is, if Peridot doesn’t find me first. I think she scares me a little bit more than Lapis did. Sure Lapis was strong, but here, I feel like Peridot’s practically in the walls, I haven’t even seen her yet but I feel like she’s always there, looking and waiting for me to get tired and weary.

Funny enough, speaking of tired, I don’t feel tired at all. At this rate I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Either way, I need to free Connie, and find the cure for Pearl, and get out of here.

And maybe buy 4 gallons of big killer.”

 

He stood up from the spot, setting the candle back onto the table, stuffing his journal back into his pocket along with putting the stone statuette into his bag, and heading back out of the passage. After getting out, Steven stretched his limbs a little, shuddering slightly before heading over to the door he’d come from. Before his fingers touched the knob though, he felt it pull away, opening up. Two piercing green eyes glared back, burning into him, lips pulled up to show sharp teeth bared into a twisted, furious smile.

 

“Stay, the **FUCK! _OUT!_** ” Peridot snarled at him. Her gloves were coated in blood, her smaller body shook with murderous rage.

 

The blonde slammed the door as hard as she could. Steven stumbled backwards and fell back, shivering. Through the bottom of the door, massive black spiders, the size of his palms, crawled up the door, covering it up.

 

The chubby man felt as if his heart had either stopped beating or was beating too fast to feel. He scrambled back and stood up. Hesitantly, Steven moved a little closer, scrambling back once again when a few jumped at him. He rubbed his arms and shivered.

 

“Is that your power, ‘Momma’? Because that’s disgusting.” He said with a shudder before hearing angry buzzing behind him. Steven practically drove back into the tunnel, panting heavily. Taking out his flamethrower and making sure it was loaded, he peeked out, roasting the swarm that awaited him.

 

Outside the room, he heard Peridot cackling. Steven gave a huff as he moved closer to the large nest where the bugs had come from, burning away the layers. There seemed to be an extra one too, Peridot had probably somehow made it bigger.

 

With each new layer burned, a new swarm came out trying to bite and sting the black haired man. A few succeeded, but before long, the core was exposed to be quickly shot at. He quickly slipped through the area, checking out the drawers of a desk. Within was a few more pieces of solid fuel, which would definitely come in handy. He carefully put it into his backpack.

 

As it turned out, the door out of this room looped around to the front of this house. Steven wandered around and over to where the floor had collapsed, keeping a close eye out for Peridot. Heading into the room with the writing on the wall, the black haired man sighed with dismay. He aimed the flamethrower at the buzzing, swarming nest, burning it down and destroying it.

 

From behind it, a massive bug zipped straight at him. Steven held up his arm in fear, only to feel a sharp, burning pain. He dropped his weapon, taking the pocket knife and swatting at it. The bug fell to the ground, dazed, until Steven managed to burn it to ashes.

 

Letting out sobs of pain, he took out the first aid juice and shakily poured it onto his arm, wiping tears off his cheeks afterwards. The medicine felt good and while his wounds did stop hurting, it didn’t make him feel any better. “Are we done yet?”

 

He looked over at another metal cabinet, a large group of small brown spiders rested there. Steven only pushed lightly on the trigger to make sure he didn’t absolutely blast the cabinet. The spiders burned to crisps, but what laid inside was undamaged. Carefully pulling the door open as to not touch any hot metal, Steven looked inside.

 

He gave a tiny smile seeing a can of fuel, along with a fresh herb, and a bag of chem fluid. Since he was running low on bullets, he used the fluid to make more, keeping the herb for later. Come to think of it, the whole house smelled just a little bit like these herbs. He had a feeling they were something the family liked. There was a small crash and a loud screeching sob, making Steven bolt around to look down the hall.

 

A small metal creaking sound could be heard down the hall Steven peered around the corner.

 

Peridot was slowly making her way down the hall, her lantern held tightly as she sadly gazed into a mirror for a few moments, before turning to keep heading right towards him.

 

Steve felt his heart leap into his throat, as quickly as he could, he ducked around the large pile of broken, gunked up furniture. Light filled the room as Peridot walked in and stopped. Her feet, now bare, tapped the floor. The lantern creaked as she moved her arm, still tapping.

 

With dread creeping up his spine, Steven felt the vibrations from the floor. Peridot was trying to  _sense_ for him. He tried to turn his head to catch another glimpse of the murderous little housewife, only to move back to his spot hidden behind the furniture when he saw her foot tapping at the floor close by. Her angry glare so close to spotting him. Steven crept out of the room as quietly as he could, holding his breath and almost screaming when he heard her lunge at the spot he’d been only seconds before.

 

“Son of a bitch…” Peridot muttered. “I swear to god, when I find you, you’ll accept Her Gift, or I’ll fucking gut you. It’ll be my delight to feed my sweet Lapis your heart and guts, cooked tender just for her. She’ll be so proud, maybe her and I can… F-finally have another baby… I’ll be her perfect wife again…”

 

Peridot kept rambling on, giggling to herself despite to changes in her tone. Angry, happy, sad, she changed moods so quickly it was hard to keep up with what the short woman was saying.

 

Steven felt down the hall and flinched when he saw the mirror. Cracked and coated with fresh blood. Peridot had broken it, that had been the crashing sound, shards of it had fallen to the floor, her boots discarded. Come to think of it, her gloves had been slightly ripped too, at her fingers, she’d probably cut them.

 

On the wall a little further up, scratched into the wood, read the words:

 

_'I just want to be beautiful again’_


	22. Showdown in... The floor?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Steven get into a bit of a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very big warning for the beginning, as it involves many many bugs. Even writing it was hard for me. It’s the 3rd paragraph. Also, next chapter is gonna be from Peri’s point of view!

Stepping away from the broken mirror, Steven crept into the room that held the projector. Taking the statuette out of his bag and being very careful not to drop the stupid thing, he held it up to the light, turning it the same way he remembered Connie had done. Amazingly, it lined up with the silhouette of the spider in the painting.

 

The passage opened up, and Steven left the statuette on the table. He began to squeeze his way through the slim passage.

 

His heart pounded in his ears when his small flashlight showed what lingered ahead. Hundreds, if not thousands of small, slimy, blood red centipedes crawled all over the walls, he could even hear them scuttling over the rotting wooden beams. They practically glided over the walls and skittered over his fingers as Steven tried to squeeze through the passage as fast as he could. Hissing and crawling little feet around him as they slithered between the cracks, he felt panic creeping in as he shut his eyes, squeezing so tightly that a few tears came out.

 

He gasped for air once he reached the end, brushing his hands all over his body to make sure none of them had come with him. Steven wiped at his face and gave a sigh of relief when he couldn’t find any.

 

Seemed now that the tall man was on the other side of the massive gap. At least Peridot might not be so quick to follow him through the passage.

 

Then again, she seemed to like bugs… Hopefully the tight squeeze would deter her.

 

Taking out his pistol, Steven walked slowly through the area, checking anything he could for something to help him out. He didn’t have much space left in his bag, enough for a few things though, it would be good to find something.

 

A peek into a box held a bottle of first aid juice, a picture of a little girl. Her soft looking hair, the color of a robin’s egg, seemed to cover her eyes almost completely. It was that Eveline girl again. Underneath it was another photo, one of Lapis holding a little child, one with a happy smile and strawberry blonde hair. He took the pictures and put them with the others he had found.

 

There was a way upstairs. Steven grimaced as he looked at the floorboards at the bottom. A huge area looked like it would cave if he so much as jumped on them. Making his way up the stairs, he stared at the door. It was… Definitely odd. There was a fox mounted there, stuffed to look lifelike, another head sewn onto its body. He needed the fox key for it. Maybe Peridot had it? He really didn’t want to fight her…

 

There was a note that had been nailed onto the doorframe, in what looked like Peridot’s handwriting guessing by other notes.

 

_Pearl,_

 

_You tried to sneak up the the second floor, didn’t you?! Did you think I wouldn’t notice?!?!_

_Even after what happened to Eveline, you just keep talking about some strange medicine._

_And what are you planning to do with my altar? You’d better keep your sticky fingers off of it!_

_Nobody touches my sacred altar!_

 

_You think your mummy and I are idiots?! You spoiled, pathetic child._

_I wish you’d NeVer been born. UnforGIVably pathetic and yet always looking DOWN on uS aNd trying to Leave our HOME! After EVERYthing WE’VE done for YOU. Pathetic PATHETIC pathetic pathetic_

_If you EVER even touch my sacred altar I’ll slice off your chest and serve it to your sister as potroast._

 

“Well.” Said Steven, “Aren’t you just the most loving mother I’ve ever met. Can’t possibly see why Pearl sent me here instead, since you’re just a fucking delight to be around.”

 

Seeing as this door was locked, Steven went back down the stairs. His heart sank when he saw the underground crawlspace that Connie had gone into. Maybe he would find something there now.

 

Jumping down into it and turning on his flashlight, Steven crawled through and his hands and knees, keeping his pistol close.

 

There was a fragile crate off to the side, Steven fired a single bullet into the box, shattering the wood. Nothing had been inside, just some now frightened bugs that scurried away.

 

“This place is a nightmare…”

 

Reaching the end where Peridot had snatched up Connie, he looked around. There was the large crank device that looked easy to pull off. He did so, smiling as he put it into his bag and quickly made his way out. Reloading his gun, he took out 2 massive bugs that waited at the entrance.

 

Steven couldn’t help but be a little freaked out by the fact that it was almost as if they were always waiting for him, like they knew where he was.

 

The somewhat buff man smiled upon seeing a large pulley system, one that seemed to be missing a crank to it. It was attached to something in the water, most likely a part of the missing floor. He would go any long way he could find if it meant never having to go through the bug passage again.

 

Snapping the crank into place, he got to work, crabbing the machine and raising the wood from the water. It was soaked, covered in moss and smelled quite foul, but it was a way across, and that was all that mattered. Taking the crank with him for future use and being careful not to slip, he crossed over.

 

Being quiet as he could, Steven went back through the halls. He heard giggling and veered off into the projection room. He needed to hurry before Peridot found him again. Off to the side on the ‘balcony’ was another machine where the crank could fit into place. Raising the platform from the swamp, he crept over into the small area that had been out of reach before. It was a tiny room, not much room for anything at all.

 

There, resting in the light was a large silver box, kept shockingly clean. He opened it up, his brown eyes lighting up to see a large key, a fox skull fixed to it. The fox key, exactly what he needed, maybe he could get out of here quickly too.

 

However… His bag was now completely full. He needed to drop some things off now. When Steven began to head through the back halls, a small swarm of wasps buzzed angrily by the door. Letting out a squeak of fear, Steven pulled out his flamethrower and blasted them.

 

He heard and angry screech and looked into the main room, Peridot stood there. “Alright you piece of shit! I’ve had about enough of you!”

 

Steven took a step back, burning another, much larger swarm that came from behind the short woman. She laughed, her voice dry and rough.

 

Steven quickly switched to his pistol once again, and fired a shot. It hit the older woman’s shoulder, and she let out a sharp cry from the sudden pain, snarling at him.

 

Taking the opportunity, he sprinted out the door. He heard Peridot scream out after him.

 

“And don’t you EVER come back, fucking shitcock!” She spat and fumed as she slammed the door. Steven could hear her ranting in there, something about “Ungrateful boy, didn’t even eat supper” along with a quick “Probably made a mess with Lapis in my house, just cleaned it.”

 

Staring at the door, Steven shook his head. “Lady you’ve got a lotta problems.” Feeling frightened and frankly, rather awkward, Steven went out to Pearl’s trailer.

 

After rearranging some things and dropping stuff off, Steven went back into the house. He took a deep breath as he opened the door flamethrower in hand. Peridot was nowhere to be found though…

 

The way over the water was still a little slippery. Steven was actually quite impressed with the moss that had grown on it, it was the healthiest looking creature he had seen in a while. He gave himself a little mental kick, he could nerd out about plants later, he needed to get into the upstairs now. The black haired man grew nervous as his footsteps creaked on the old wooden floorboards. He could see the hole underneath them, seemed the water nearby was only in that little section.

 

Steven walked up the stairs, getting ready to pull out the fox key.

 

“I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUTTA HERE!” Peridot screeched in his face, suddenly jumping out in front of him, her vicious smile showing her sharp looking teeth as she grabbed Steven around his neck.

 

Despite the little woman looking frail, she had immense strength. With a grunt, the blonde tossed Steven down the stairs. He landed with a heavy thud against the weak floorboards, groaning in pain. Peridot laughed as she walked down the stairs, watching with delight as the floor gave out from under him, sending him tumbling down into the hole.

 

When he looked up, he saw her standing over the hole, swinging her lantern with a sadistic grin. Steven glared up at her. “You gonna come down here too?”

 

She gave a dry laugh. “Alright you little cocksucker, let’s get down to business!” She hissed, and sent out a swarm of wasps. Steven panicked and swatted them away, pulling out the flamethrower and torching them. He tried to quickly reload it when he felt a sharp sting on his shoulder. One had gotten him already, he quickly turned it to dust. Peridot stomped her feet. “You’re gonna die here in this hole, and you’re gonna love it!” She crowed through her smugness quickly turned to a cry of fear when Steven turned the flamethrower upwards.

 

Peridot let out a whimper of pain as she held up her arms, screaming after he stopped. She looked hardly touched but she was obviously in pain from her stance. Panting, she swung her lantern again. “Play nice for once, cher!” She growled.

 

3 bugs the size of housecats flew down. Keeping a grip on his pocket knife Steven made quick work of them. Peridot gave a whine of frustration. “You think you can just waltz in here and have your way with MY family?! Stars only KNOW what you and Pearl have been up to! Don’t think I don’t know!”

 

“Yeah. Kinda had a feeling.” Steven grunted as he fired a few shots, connecting with the blonde’s stomach and chest, making her wince before he brought back the fire. He wasn’t going to be giving her much chance to recover, the sting he’d gotten still burned like fire itself.

 

After taking one final shot to her lower belly, Peridot doubled over, dropping her lantern down into the hole before the housewife came falling down after. Steven stepped out of the way as she whimpered.

 

“My light… My light….” Peridot choked. “I need it…” She curled her body around it, shivering as if she were freezing cold.

 

Steven jumped as black liquid quickly started to seep into the hole through the dirt. He grabbed the rusted metal ladder that was attached to the side and began to climb up. He scrambled out of the pit and back onto the solid floor before shakily looking down. The liquid had reached halfway up the hole, Peridot was completely under.

 

He had the feeling in the back of his mind though, that he hadn’t seen the last of her.


	23. Peridot's Transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot goes through death, and rebirth. And thanks to a certain someone, things go horrifically wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for body horror

Everything hurt and ached as she moved, curling up around her precious lantern. Peridot closed her eyes as pitch black slime filled the hole she’d fallen into, Steven managing to get out before it claimed him.

Peridot on the other hand, closed her eyes, and felt her body go limp.

“Lapis… It’s been so long since I’ve been through this, through death...” She murmured. “Stay with me, my love, I need you.”

“Come on, Momma. You’ve got this. Kick his ass! Show him who’s boss!” She heard Amethyst crow proudly in her head. Her sweet daughter cheering her on, willing her to make it through this.

This was a strange place, she wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t quite alive either. Warm arms wrapped around her form, soft lips caressing her neck. “Kill him, my queen.”

Her little girl appeared before her. Such a sweet little thing, her precious baby girl. “You need help.”

It wasn’t a question but Peridot nodded anyways. Her little one gave a soft giggle and faded away. Lapis’ voice whispered into her ear. “I’ll be with you, my love. Always.” Her hand enveloped Peridot’s own, another hand resting on the blonde’s stomach as if she were going to have a baby all over again.

Euphoria rushed through her system. It had been so long, she wanted another baby, for her body to carry something, anything. A bigger family, to provide more love and care, it was all she wanted, why did Steven hate her for it? He was trying to take her happy dreams away, Peridot would do anything to keep them, to feel herself carry a child even just one more time…

“Anything?” The voice of her little girl asked, Lapis’ embrace gone.

Peridot nodded. “Anything. I don’t care what happens.”

“Good.”

Peridot let out a scream as she felt the darkness wrap around her limbs. Crying and sobbing as the stretched. She felt her muscles ripping and tearing before sewing themselves back together, her bones crack and shattering before they fused back into place. Her arms and legs being pulled so hard she thought she would lose them. Pain shot up them as blood rushed in, her fingers twitching uncontrollably as her heart fought to force more blood into them. Her nails sharpening into claws as her glove began to rip. Her tiny 5 foot tall body would now be standing at 10 feet.

The darkness forced itself into her mouth, burning her gums as her teeth becoming more fang like, filling with Her wonderful, poisonous Gift.

Peridot heaved, her vocal cords having snapped and pulled themselves back together. Her voice sounded doubled, as if she were two people speaking.

It wasn’t done yet.

She felt it surge through her skin, her lower belly felt like it was splitting open. Peridot cried out in terror and agony as she felt the pain of childbirth all over again. The blonde convulsed and wretched white slime as she felt her skin stretch and tear, forming new layers and ripping her skirt. Where her womb had once been, was now one of the nests she had tended to so lovingly, painfully pulsing and forcing her legs apart.

Her limbs were all about the same size now, she could walk on all fours if she wanted. Peridot shuddered as she felt strength flow through her. This had never happened to any member of the family before, she felt a little honored.

Stretched limbs, her body a nest for her new babies, strength pulsing through her veins, Peridot grinned.


	24. An Arm and a Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven finds some hope.

"Oh, everything hurts.” Steven groaned. “That felt like gym class only with a nutcase lady who wants to cook me…” He took deep breaths and held his knee. He’d cut it on the way up.

 

Taking off his backpack and reaching inside, Steven pulled out a bottle of first aid juice and poured it onto his wound, feeling his whole body begin to heal. “Starting to wonder if I should be putting something these people have into my body…” He murmured. “Too late now.”

 

He watched his knee heal up the cut on his pants didn’t fix itself though. Seemed it only healed organic material. He needed to get to the upstairs now, now that Peridot was… Out of the way. He didn’t want to look back down into the black pool that had swallowed the blonde up. He could hear the murky water bubbling too…

 

“I gotta go…” Steven said as he stood up, dusting himself off. He went up the stairs and shivered when he saw a large, bright red centipede curled up on the table. A single bullet entered the creature, killing it instantly. “Absolutely. Not. You don’t exist, no more.” Steven grumbled.

 

Pulling out the fox key and unlocking the door, his eyes went wide. This place was much cleaner than downstairs, almost no bugs in sigh, but just as horrifying. On the far wall was a portrait of Peridot and Lapis, standing together, the blue haired woman holding the blonde from behind, Peridot having a small baby bump, the two smiling as if they couldn’t be any happier. All around the happy picture were baby dolls, beaten and twisted up, hanging from the ceiling, the words ‘ **I WANT MORE** ’ were scratched into the wallpaper.

 

“Oh, oh hanging babies…” Steven murmured. “I get the funny feeling, she MIGHT have wanted another kid.”

 

A soft glow illuminated the place. A single lantern, exactly the same as Peridot’s, sat on one end of a scale. The scale had a long wire that ran into the wall beside the door frame, said door being locked tight. He had to get the other lantern from Peridot somehow…

 

On the table was a silver briefcase, somewhat beaten but otherwise okay. It was surrounded by tiny angle statues and little candles. The codex on his wrist began to beep. He looked down at it.

 

“Target in range.” It read. Steven nodded and went to the briefcase, opening it up and immediately cringing away in disgust.

 

Inside of the case, tied down across the bottom was the tiny mummified body of what looked like an infant.

 

Across the top was a paper with damaged writing.

 

_C**e f*r E-serie* n**rot*x*ci*y in*ecti**_

_I*gre**ent*:_

_D-s*rie* peripher*l ne*ve_

_D-series cran*al **rve_

_Mu** be a*mini*ter** via in*ect*on to t*ose infec*ed_

 

So many of the letters had been blurred and smudged, it was a bit hard for him to read. A cranial nerve and a peripheral nerve?

 

The phone on the table across the room rang suddenly, making Steven jump and let out an extremely manly yelp. He walked over and sighed, picking up the phone.

 

Pearl’s voice rang through, she sounded a bit anxious. “Well? Did you find it?”

 

“Yeah.” Steven replied, a little more than angry with Pearl for not telling him anything. “And I just got finished dealing with your mom and her fucking bugs, wish you could’ve warned me.”

 

Pearl let out a soft giggle. “Sorry ‘bout that.” She said, her accent growing thicker as she spoke more and more, as if she’d hidden it. Come to think of it, all of them had accents, they would probably sound charming if they weren’t bloodthirsty cannibals. “So… What about the serum?”

 

“Didn’t find any, but I found out what we need to make some.” He explained. “A D-series head, and an arm. That can’t be right though, can-?”

 

Steven was cut off when Pearl began to talk again, sounding a bit excited. “A head? I think I have one around here somewhere.”

 

“Are you for real?” Steve asked, and he heard an ever so slight chuckle as Pearl continued.

 

“The arm though… I don’t know about that. Have you searched the whole house yet?” She asked.

 

“Uh… No, not yet. Still have to get through the second floor.”

 

Pearl took a deep breath. “Okay. You go check it out, meet me at the trailer if you find it.” She hung up, leaving Steven alone once again.

 

He walked on further through the little area, peeking into the one little part he hadn’t been into yet. A little doll made of woven dry grass sat on a small, dusty little piano. Near it was a tiny table covered in dead flowers with a journal in the center. Written in Peridot’s neat handwriting.

 

_October 11_

_My ears have been ringing all day and I haven’t been able to sleep since the child showed up. It’s like Pearl says, there’s something strange about the child, and the woman she brought with her._

 

_October 15_

_I’m seeing things, hearing things, can’t stop feeling nauseous. I fainted in the kitchen the other day, scared everyone half to death. Lapis took me to see the doctor in town and he gave me an x-ray. What’s happening to me?_

 

_October 23_

_The child gave me a present._

 

_October_

_I put the present in the secret room right at the back of the second floor, where nobody will find it._

_That arm is a sign of the child’s trust._

_That arm will lead us to happiness._

_Anyone who dares corrupt that happiness… I won’t allow them to live._

 

Steven put the book back onto the table, thoroughly disturbed. He felt… Sad. Like he could see it with his own eyes, Peridot growing sicker and sicker as only a few days went by, fainting in the kitchen, being brought to the hospital by a presumably terrified Lapis. Whenever Connie had caught a cold, Steven had gone out of his way to make sure she was getting everything she needed.

 

But how could Lapis help when no one even knew what was happening at all?

 

There was a loud crash downstairs, Steven reloaded his shotgun and swiftly headed over to the door downstairs. He heard a ghastly snarl. “Peridot?” He whispered, looking down at the hole the blonde had been in, now empty, save for her lantern. Another crashing sound fro below there floor, and Steven noticed a hole that had been dug into the ground.

Another grown sounded off, much closer this time. Slowly, an arm reached out from the hole. Peridot’s arm. It was now roughly the size of her old body. Peridot clamped her fingers and claws around her lantern, and yanked it through the hole with her.


	25. Keeper of The Greenhouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven visits the Greenhouse with Peridot, and the two get to talk.

Steven looked down into the empty hole, listening to the creaking and shuffling that came from the tunnel Peridot seemed to have dug out. He crept down the ladder, keeping his weapon close to him.

 

He turned around when he got to the bottom, and his breath caught in his throat.

 

Peridot, walking perfectly on all 4 of her now extended limbs, was making her way down through the tunnel, looking like some sort of animal, her legs and arms bent as she crawled through.

 

“What in the hell? Well that’s special.” Steven snarked as Peridot and her lantern faded into darkness, his flashlight only slightly illuminating the passage.

 

Slick white slime was dropped all along the floor, claw marks all over the place. Peridot had definitely dug this out herself with the look of what her nails had become.

 

Eventually the tunnel opened up to clean air, and Steven’s eyes widened upon seeing that a bole had already been dug into the ground, there was a ladder here, and the walls going up were smooth. “She… Knew where she needed to go.” He remarked as he climbed up. Although, Steven couldn’t help but wonder what that hole was for. Maybe they had wanted to put something here.

 

Steven looked around, the skies were still not clear, but at least the rain had faded to a light mist. Looking around, he knew know where he was. This was the area he couldn’t get to before, the gate having been locked from the other side. Well, he was on the ‘other side’ now. The chubby man unlocked the gate and pushed it open, smiling as he looked at Pearl’s trailer.

 

Taking a peek through the garden nearby, Steven grinned when he found an herb, and a small box of shotgun shells. He looked up the path and drew a long, slow breath.

 

The Greenhouse loomed ahead, definitely where Peridot had gone. He could hear soft sounds coming from within, almost like a mix of groaning and sobbing…

 

Keeping everything safe within his backpack, Steven ventured over.

 

There were two doors to the Greenhouse, one going up a few stairs, the other only needing a single tiny step. The lower door was locked so it seemed the only option now was the upper one. Going up the steps (and nearly stumbling, that would’ve been humiliating) and slowly opening the door, he looked around nervously.

 

No bugs, but eerie, creepy vines were growing all over the place. A tiny pouch of gun powder lay on a little footstool, on a nearby table was a red bag, just like the yellow chem fluid ones. The red bag read: 'Chem Fluid- Extra Strength’. Steven poured the gunpowder into the bag and shook it.

 

The bullets that came out were heavier, stronger. “Extra strength ammo.” He remarked. “Peridot’s not gonna like this.”

 

The floorboards looked about to collapse, this place had seen better days. Ferns grew up from between them, black flowers scattered all around the area. All the plants in this place seemed alive and healthy, a little too alive, there wasn’t a place Steven could look that wasn’t covered in plants. A bed and tiny bedside table sat off to the side though, not too many plants there. There was a small, only slightly dirty blanket there too…

 

He looked into the little drawer in the table, finding solid fuel within. The dark haired man crept over to the other side of the large opening room, the door being blocked off with boards nailed into the wall. There was a large hole in the floor. As Steven drew closer, he heard the groaning sound again. This time though, it sounded like a low, mournful wail.

 

“Oh… I’m a brave boy.”

 

He jumped down the hole, grunting softly as he landed, his bad arm ached a little as he caught himself.

 

There wasn’t much in the lower floor, a door that led somewhere else was sealed shut, he could hear the sound of Peridot’s bugs on the other side. That door could stay shut.

 

Keeping his flashlight close and his pistol closer, Steven wandered around.

 

“Momma?” He peeped, looking for the blonde. A small box held more shotgun shells, he was pretty full up on ammo now, now all he needed was to find her. The place looked so empty, almost peaceful. A worn couch in the corner looked almost welcoming…

 

“I got a bad feeling about this…” Steven murmured to himself. “Feel like she’s gonna be pouring through one of these doors…”

 

There was a small stairway upwards, the railing near it broken and splintered. Steven made sure not to put his hands onto it.

 

“ _ **Come on now with me, we’re gonna settle this!**_ ” Peridot burst through a boarded up window, going right into Steven’s face. Her grin was huge, her eyes glassy and dark, her fangs gleaming with saliva. She grabbed him by the ankles and yanked his feet out from under him, laughing like a lunatic. She began to drag him through the window, her claws wrapped tightly around his ankles.

 

“No!” Steven cried, squirming in her grip and shooting at her. His bullet sank into her throat and she let out a scream of pain, letting him go. She swung her arms at Steven, trying to claw him as she growled and snarled.

 

She ducked back through the window. Steven scrambled up onto his feet and dashed up the stairs. He couldn’t find Peridot, she wasn’t inside the room, but deeper out into the actual greenhouse itself. Maybe.

 

He turned around, his back up almost against a somewhat boarded up window. Steven tried to pace his breathing, to not panic completely.

 

That is, until he felt a single thin claw gently drag across the back of his hair, just ghosting over his spine. He turned around, staring into the darkness beyond the boards and into Peridot’s cold, hateful green eyes.

 

“ ** _I’m not going to miss you, at all_**.”

 

Steven screamed and stumbled back, falling onto his butt as he saw her shuffle away, falling back out of sight. “ ** _Here I come_**!” Her voice sounded as if there were two of her.

 

She leapt down onto the outer area that opened into the greenhouse, and stood up on her legs, stretching up to her full height. Peridot swiped at Steven, clawing at him. He managed to dodge her attack and shot at her shoulder. Peridot let out a loud screech and lunged towards him. “ _ **Don’t you FUCKING dare!**_ ”

 

The chubby man cried out in pain when he felt her sink her teeth into his collarbone, biting down as hard as she could. He could feel his skin burning where her teeth were as she pulled away, laughing and licking her lips. “ ** _You don’t even deserve Her Gift!_** ” Peridot snapped. She got back onto her feet, and Steven’s eyes widened further at the sight of her body.

 

The monstrous woman’s skirt had opened, revealing what looked like some sort of woven nest that took over her entire lower belly and between her legs. “What the hell is WRONG with you, lady?!” Steven shouted as he shot at the nest.

 

Peridot doubled over and screamed, before jumping up into the dark rafters and crawling away. Steven ran out into the greenhouse room. There wasn’t much of it. The upper floor had almost completely caved in, just two massive holes in the floor with a ladder being the only way down. The chubby man poured first aid liquid onto his collarbone and grabbed the flamethrower, making sure it was fully loaded with fuel.

 

“ _ **When I get my hands on you, I’m gonna tear your face off, eat your scrawny little head!**_ ” Peridot howled, and he watched as she crawled along the broken glass ceiling, the moon coming out from behind the clouds to show off her ghastly features.

 

One thing he couldn’t help but notice however, was the shine of tears flowing from her eyes. Why was Peridot crying?

 

“ ** _My poor little Evie, she’s gonna be heartbroken._** ” Peridot hissed. “ _ **Oh, but bless your stupid fucking heart, you know I’ll kill you in the end.**_ ” He raised the flamethrower and began to douse her in the flames. Though they died quickly, Peridot still hissed with rage as she crawled away back into the rafters, only jumping down after a few moments.

 

Steven took a step back in fright. “Gah, what is with your belly?! What the hell?” He shuddered a bit as more flames streaked out towards the monster before him, who covered her face with her arms. The nest was being slightly damaged.

 

She jumped into the lower floor, scrambling away into the shadows. Come to think of it, her lantern was gone now. Where was it?

 

Peridot let out a long snarl of hatred. “ _ **You’re gonna get it, you son of a bitch! There’s no getting away, not this time!**_ ”

 

He dashed over through the other opening, into a spot that had the chimney of the place exposed. Steven took soft breaths, trying to steady himself. His heart was beating like a bird trying to escape a cage, and though his hands were steady, his knees felt weak from looking at Peridot’s terrifying new form.

 

“ _ **Don’t look up**_.” A low, rumbling growl sounded from the chimney, and Steven screamed in fear as he turned around, backing up against the wall. “ _ **Aww, you scared of a little housewife, Steven?!**_ ” She taunted him as she practically clawed her way out from the hole that was now being carved out of the chimney, Peridot bursting through with a laugh, clawing his abdomen. “ _ **Now you’re gonna feel what I feel, you**_ _ **prick! Every day of my life!**_ ”

 

Steven whimpered in pain and fled from her, climbing down the ladder as quickly as he could and into the lower floor. Down there he could see a bottle of extra strength first aid juice, and immediately poured it onto himself. He could hear her crawling above him, she had gone oddly silent. The tall man ducked behind some plants and tried not to make any noise.

 

Tap. Tap tap. Click.

 

He could hear it, over and over. In the small light that shone down, casting her shadow onto the wall across from him, he could see her tapping her claws against the floor. She was searching for him.

 

“ _ **Don’t be like that, Steven… Show yourself.**_ ”

 

He shuffled along the side of the wall and out into the open, firing shotgun shells directly into her side and into the nest. Peridot cried and wailed as she scrambled to try and get away, fleeing on all fours. “Get away from me.” Steven said, trying to be brave against her.

 

“ ** _You got nowhere to go now, there’s no escape, city boy!_** ”

 

He would prove her wrong. Steven quickly climbed up the ladder and onto the upper floor, looking for her. He shot a few more shells, but none of them seemed to hit. He didn’t want to waste them all… So he switched to his pistol. Only 3 bullets inside it at the moment from attacking her when she’d first grabbed him though. He had more, but he also had the extra strength ammo…

 

Something wasn’t right. He could hear pained groaning, Peridot heaving and panting, only for 2 of the massive bugs to came circling quickly around Steven’s head, one stinging him before he took care of both with the 2 extra bullets. Peridot cried out. “ _ **How DARE you hurt my babies!**_ ”

 

So that nest she had was to birth more of those things. Lovely.

 

“ _ **I’ll kill you.**_ ” He heard her, directly above him. Firing the last normal bullets into her nest, he got Peridot to fall down onto the floor before searing her nest more with flames.

 

Peridot stiffened up, falling to her knees, her body shaking as she gurgled and spluttered. She froze, perfectly still, as her body rapidly turned to stone. Then, just as quickly, it began to crumble away.

 

There, in the middle of it all, wrapped around the lantern that had been left behind, looking perfectly clean but oh so tired, was Peridot Lazuli. Steven ran up to her, shaking the blonde woman, who lay limp on the old wood and the calcified remains of her old body. “Hey, c-come on, wake up, are you in there?”

 

Steven had just been about to try CPR on her until he heard a soft, faint voice. “Steven?”

 

He looked up. Her eyes were just barely open, dark circles under them. She looked like she hadn’t slept in ages. “Peridot?” Steven asked. “Is that you?”

 

“I…. I didn’t hurt you, did I…?” She croaked. “I’m… Sorry.” More tears slipped down her cheeks.

 

Steven took her into his arms, her body completely limp as he rushed over to the bed he’d found, laying her in it. “Hey, it’s okay. What’s going on with you, what’s happening?”

 

She gazed up at him. “Steven. We’re sick…” Peridot whispered. “Plesse do… Do something for me?”

 

He nodded. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

 

“Please, Steven… Save my family.”


	26. Peridot, Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no joke summary, this chapter is just pain and angst.
> 
> Remember to leave a comment if you liked it though! I dunno, maybe angst is your thing...

Amethyst’s eyes opened wide, her breathing harsh and ragged as she felt her mind race.

She had heard everything her mother could think and feel. Heard Peridot’s screams of rage at the boy who’d been hurting her, been able to feel Lapis cheering them on, faintly being able to listen to Pearl, her pathetic little sister, weep with fear.

Now? Silence.

“Momma?” She murmured, like a child who’d had a nightmare. “Momma, where are you?”

She dashed over to the window to see Steven walking out of the greenhouse, sitting on the old swing her parents had loved to sit on for hours. There was blood on him. Her mother’s blood. He looked dazed from what she could see.

Amethyst had to force herself to keep breathing as ragged sobs and gasps wracked her body. Tears flowed own her tan cheeks as she put the pieces together.

Her Momma, her precious, wonderful Momma, was gone. Her last time spent with her had been arguing with her Mum, watching the blonde run out in pain of another ruined dinner. The hive mind they shared allowed them to hear each other, and she had heard her mother’s cries of agony as she caught sight of her own appearance in a mirror, breaking it with her bare hands.

She would never feel her mother’s warm embrace again, never get to tease her for how short she was, never eat her cooking, feel her soft lips peck her cheek whenever Amethyst made her proud, hear her voice… She would never get to see her mother smile again. Amethyst felt sharp pains in her chest, worse than any bullet or knife could ever do.

Amethyst let out a long scream and fell to her knees, holding herself tightly and sobbing. “Momma!” She cried, “Momma! Come back, come back, please! I need you!”

She stood up and looked out the window, screaming in hatred. “I’ll kill you, I’ll burn you, I’ll fucking END YOU!”

~

Pearl stopped dead in her tracks. She had been wandering the marsh on their property, just a little behind Amethyst’s testing ‘facility’ where her older sister tested horrific traps and 'games’ on people who happened to step foot inside.

She could feel it. The disconnect, the loss of a consciousness that had been part of her mind for 3 years.

Her Momma, Peridot, was gone. She knew Steven and her had probably gotten into another fight, what had happened though? Last she knew he had gotten to the blonde’s sacred alter, so what had happened to her mother?

A few tears slipped down her face. She hadn’t realized just how much she loved her parents, how much she missed them. She covered her mouth as a few muffled sobs. Memories flooded into her head now, being just little and making cookies with Peridot, holding onto her as a hurricane ravaged the coast, feeling her mother’s warm little hands rubbing her back, holding Pearl and her sister tightly. Peridot reading to them, singing in the kitchen as she made dinner some nights, staying up late and watching her Momma and Mummy dance slowly in the living room to an old song.

Then, her last one. The last time Pearl had ever spoken to the once kind and loving woman who had brought her into the world.

They had been fighting. Pearl had called Peridot a bitch, saying that she wished the blonde would die. Pulling a knife on her own mother, who had been trying to beat her with one of her rolling pins, the blonde screeching curses, threatening her, saying she wished she had never given birth to Pearl at all…

The last words Pearl had said to her mother? One of the worst things she COULD say to the woman.

“Go cry to Mum, you hideous freak, you’re not a mother.” She had spat before running off. Peridot had cried and cried, Lapis having gone out to find the new boy on their property that Connie was attacking. Peridot had no one to cry to, and Pearl knew it. Lapis was intoxicated half the time, and aggressive. Amethsyt had her machines to vent to, Lapis had her alcohol to numb herself, Pearl had Connie to talk to, Peridot had no one but her own head.

Pearl cried silently, looking up at the starless sky.

“Momma… I’m so sorry…”

~

Lapis’ body had been moved by Amethyst not long after her throat had been ripped to shreds.

The blue haired woman’s body had been laid peacefully in one of Peridot’s flower garden, waiting for Her Gift to allow Lapis to recover.

She had been listening to every single thing her wife had thought and felt, wanting so badly to heal and rush to her aid. She knew that Peridot had been crying throughout the whole ordeal. The blonde was being fed all her bad memories at once, her brain overloaded until she could no longer fight on her own, having to take Her help.

And then, all at once, her beloved was gone forever.

All of Lapis’ own memories surged through. The worst of them.

Peridot gotten sick so soon into them living together, fainting from working so hard.

Seeing her cry as she told Lapis about her first pregnancy, assuming that Lapis would hate her.

The blonde nearly dying during Pearl’s birth, holding her hand as Peridot’s strength faded from her tiny body.

The lightening strike that had caused a massive fire in the town, separating the little family, leading to Periods jealous ex-suitor trying to murder her for loving Lapis.

Being told they wouldn’t have any more children.

The anniversary that had gone horrifically wrong.

The last weeks before She had blessed the family with Her Gift, Peridot growing sicker and sicker, fainting and coughing up blood as the last of it took hold.

Lapis could feel herself breathing, her heart beginning to beat again.

Something was wrong. Her heart was too fast, her breathing too shallow, she could feel herself twitch as she screamed in her own mind.

Peridot had been murdered by Steven, and Lapis hadn’t been there to protect her.

She wanted to feel Peridot’s soft golden hair again, look at her beautiful face even if the blonde was convinced that her looks were ruined. Feel her in her arms, lift and twirl her around, feel her touch and kiss her one last time.

Lapis would do anything to destroy Steven, to avenge her beloved, the woman that was supposed to be there by her side forever.

“You promised…” Lapis whimpered. “We would be together forever, you said you’d never leave me…” She cried. “Peridot… Peridot… Peridot!”

“Anything?”

“Anything…” Lapis begged. “I want to see my wife again, I’ll do anything.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually, protip, if there's a demon inside you, don't say you'll do anything.


	27. Don't Let Them Go To Waste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9 months into their infection, Lapis and Peridot begin to develop a taste for more macabre flavors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for violence and some gore!

9 months. 9 whole months since their lives had changed forever. Since then had been blessed with Her Gift. They were a family now, a great big family.

 

Peridot smiled to herself as she stood on the porch of their house, watching the sun set. It was so hard to stay up during the day, so much easier to feel awake and alive at night, the blonde found. She watched Lapis, who was reinforcing one of the windows.

 

The town had assumed the family dead after that last storm. Nobody ever came around their home anymore.

 

Not that they wanted anyone poking around to look for them.

 

Peridot leaned against a stone column, watching her wife. “You need help?” She asked.

 

The blue haired woman turned to her and nodded. “Yeah.” She mumbled as she carefully put another board in place over the window, hammering it into the spot. “Need a few more nails. Go out to the old barn, there should be a box of em on the workbench.” Lapis ordered, pointing out towards the barn. Amethyst had taken an interest in it lately, seemed her daughter wanted to fix it up and make something out of it.

 

Feeling the overgrown grass brush her ankles, Peridot slowly moved toward the barn as if she were in a trance. Most days, her mind felt fuzzy, as if she’d filled her head with cotton. Didn’t matter. They were a perfect happy family now. They had their new baby girl, and she had given them so much love.

 

The blonde tottered around the barn in the dark, holding her lantern at her hip to see. Eventually, she found the workbench with the box of nails. As Peridot made her way out though, she could feel it. Her stomach was growling, it almost always was. Nothing was ever enough for her, or Lapis, or Amethyst. They all felt a biting hunger constantly, no matter what they ate.

 

She could feel it again, gnawing not only at her belly but at the back of her mind. It was driving her mad.

 

Then, as if by some sick joke, she could hear them. A voice, that of a young man, heading near the property fence. Peridot’s blood boiled, and she gritted her teeth. Intruder. Here to invade their home, ruin their perfect life. Setting the nails down, Peridot ran back over to Lapis, panting heavily.

 

Lapis turned to her. “What’s wrong?” She asked. “Love, what is it?”

 

Peridot growled, feeling hate surge though her tiny body. “Someone’s at the fence, trying to get into our home. Trying to hurt our babies.” The blonde seethed.

 

Lapis’ dark eyes hardened and she abandoned her work. She gripped onto her hammer tightly and grabbed Peridot’s wrist, nearly dragging her across the lawn as they watched the stranger at the gate, calling out to anyone. A lost man.

 

He wandered through the hole in the fence, looking around. Not seeing the dark hearted couple standing nearby. “Hello?”

 

She heard Lapis give a dark, low snarl. “Bastard.” She charged forward, “Get away from my wife!”

 

The blue haired woman brought her hammer down onto the man’s head, beating him until the green grass ran red with blood. Crimson splattered onto Lapis’ face and hands as she savagely beat the man past death.

 

The moment the coppery scent hit the blonde’s nose, she gasped softly and began to _drool_.

 

Lapis was panting, growling softly. “Well?” She looked at Peridot, her hard, dark blue eyes clouded with hate, blood streaked into her navy hair when she ran a blood soaked hand through it, bits of meat clinging to her clothing.

 

Peridot smiled and pressed a kiss to her wife’s cheek, licking her lips afterwards. “What should we do with the body? Or… What’s left, I guess?” She asked, now leaning in her lover as they stared at the body on their lawn.

 

“Later, when it’s dark, we can bury him at the swamp.” Lapis muttered, sighing softly and wiping her mouth. Peridot could tell she was feeling the same hunger as they stared on.

 

“I guess.” The blonde murmured. “I mean we definitely could. It’s just… Seems a downright shame, doesn’t it?”

 

Lapis quirked an eyebrow at the short woman. “What?” The older woman was taking glances at the body, licking her lips.

 

Peridot grinned up at her, her breathing growing heavier as the smell of death fueled her appetite. “To waste all the new fresh meat.”


	28. Never Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven doesn't like being all alone in the house anymore.  
> Good thing he isn't.

After those last soft words had been spoken, Peridot had closed her eyes. Steven had panicked for a moment, pressing his ear to the tiny blonde’s chest, sighing with relief when he could feel it lightly rise and fall, her heart still beating.

 

Peridot was okay. Well, besides being ice cold, fighting severe dehydration and having been pushed past the point of exhaustion.

 

Steven found another sheet that had been folded up on a shelf, laying it over her.

 

The young man stumbled through the greenhouse as the nests Peridot had given birth to crumbled into dust, covering the floor and overgrown plants.

 

He looked at the crumbles pieces of her old body, shifting a few away from the lantern that he picked up quickly. Now all Steven needed was to go through the tunnel back to the old house.

 

He went out and sat on the porch, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. The encounter with Peridot had left Steven quite a bit more shaken up than he had thought. Every part of him wished this was just a nightmare, he just wanted to go back home with Connie and forget about this.

 

But then again, they needed his help. Pearl needed that cure, and Peridot had begged for him to save her family… He couldn’t just walk away from them now…

 

A guttural scream ripped through the air, coming from the barn testing facility.

 

Amethyst. She must have known.

 

Steven took off and jumped down the hole, crawling as fast as he could through the tunnel to take him back to the old house. Anything to get away from the noise.

 

“Don’t worry Connie, I’m coming for you.” He murmured. “You too, Pearl.”

 

 _‘And you too, Peridot.’_ He thought to himself. _'I’ll help your family.’_

 

He shuffled up the ladder with his good hand, his torn one holding the lantern close. There was another thing he couldn’t exactly ignore either, his severed then stapled up hand. That would be something to explain to a doctor.

 

_“See doc, my wife got possessed by some mold after disappearing for 3 years. 5 minutes after I found her she caught off my hand with a chainsaw before some cannibal hillbillies tried to feed me some guy’s organs. Quite the summer I’m having.”_

 

He laughed softly to himself before reaching to top of the pit and looking around in horror.

 

Without Peridot’s care, the mold that had infested the old house was beginning to spread. The halls were silent as death, no bugs hissing and crawling around. The only sounds to be heard was the faint swishing of water, as if something big was moving under it, before settling.

 

Steven shivered and crept up the stairs, the lantern in his arms. The chubby man moved shakily through the halls.

 

Someone was playing the piano.

 

As he stepped towards the door to the room that held the piano inside, it suddenly slammed shut. He creaked open the door and gazed inside.

 

No one was there, the piano hadn’t even been touched at all.

 

For the first time in a while, Steven wished he wasn’t all alone.

 

He kept walking, shaking his head. Maybe Steven was just hearing things, that was probably it. He just needed to calm his nerves.

 

He really wanted to pretend that this place wasn’t being haunted, but he wasn’t 100% sure of that. Something wasn’t natural, that was for sure.

 

Well, if the living mold creatures and woman with a wasp nest between her legs wasn’t already proof enough of that.

 

He set the lantern down onto its scale beside its twin, pulling a thick rope that unlatched the door. “Probably could’ve put something else there now that I think about it.” Steven mumbled as he gazed down the darker halls. But when he tried to lift the lantern away, it stayed stuck to the scale. “Huh… Magnets. Guess not.”

 

“Eh, already got my flashlight, it’s good enough.” He didn’t feel like taking the lantern Peridot had used to control her bugs either.

 

Pulling out the map, Steven groaned softly. The next rooms were labeled ‘Kids Room’, 'Detention Room’ and Contaminated Room’.

 

“What. Fun.” He said through gritted teeth, stuffing the map back into his backpack and pulling out his shotgun. Felt nicer to hold.

 

His flashlight shone dimly through the thin, dusty hallway. He was heading into the Kids Room. The place smelled faintly of something sweet, he couldn’t quite place it. “Must have been a happy family once.”

 

He could see more into the room now. At the end of the thin passage were bookshelves filled with lots of well-read children’s books, their spines soft as Steven brushed his fingers against them. Going into the main part of the room, he could see a faded rug in the middle, toy blocks scattered around it, the edges fraying, a few holes in it too. There were bins of toys tipped over in the corners, a tiny wooden boat lay in the center, split down the middle, surrounded by other blocks and little dolls that looked to be clinging onto them, as if in a desperate attempt not to drown.

 

Over by another wall, a little sight made Steven smile softly. There was a massive plush alligator laying there, obviously beloved from the resewn areas on it, along with the handprints from a small child.

 

“Well this doesn’t seem so bad. More bittersweet than… Any…”

 

Steven trailed off. His eyes widened. A perfectly clean toy ball had been tossed from behind one of the bookshelf, bouncing and rolling along the floor until it hit the broken boat, tipping it over completely, taking all dolls with it but 1.

 

A little girl giggled.

 

Steven’s flashlight flickered.

 

It stayed on, but he was pretty sure his heart had almost just damn near stopped. “H… H-hello? Anybody out there?” He called, but to no answer.

 

He peeked around the corner, and no one was there. Maybe the little girl had already slipped away to hide. Had he scared her when he called?

 

The only sign now that she had even been there at all was a little rocking chair in the corner that sat a lone teddy bear, the chair rocking slightly. Steven went up to it, and reached out to touch the bear.

 

The moment he did, soft trickles of black ooze came from its eyes and mouth. “Okay! Nevermind! I’m sorry!” He raised his hands away from it, shaking a little.

 

He opened the door to the next room, eager to leave this one behind. His flashlight flickered again.

 

The next room was covered, floor to ceiling with mold. His footsteps squished into the stuff, and Steven let out a loud yelp when three mangled up baby dolls fell from the ceiling. “No, stop it, not okay. Fuck that.” Steven gave one a harsh kick. “Uncalled for.”

 

His flashlight flickered.

 

He huffed and backed away from them, feeling like he’d gotten thorough revenge on the plastic toys. The chubby man bumped into the table behind him and turned around quickly.

 

There was a note on the table.

 

“Something’s wrong with her.”

 

“Yeah, no shit, 'Something’s wrong with her’.” Steven snarked as he gestured to the state of the room.

 

Although, who was this her? Was it Peridot? Maybe… She had gotten pretty sick.

 

His flashlight flickered.

 

The next door had apparently been open just a crack, because it had slammed itself shut. Steven stared at it. “I’m sorry?”

 

He pushed it open, no one behind it. “Hm. Come on.” He sighed and shook his head. Something was very wrong here.

 

His flashlight flickered.

 

He kept walking through the small hallway, weaving through the piles of old furniture until he was about to round a corner.

 

His flashlight went out.

 

A little voice whispered into his ear.

 

“ _Stay away_.”


End file.
